Melting Chapter 90: Shockwave, Gwen and Mary Jane... (Patreon)

Biological Experimentation Department.

Helen Cho, Wu Jiaqi, and Skye were gathered around a plant cultivation chamber, all deep in thought.

Helen Cho muttered to herself, “Why is this happening? This alien plant doesn’t display any biochemical characteristics at all… It’s as if…”

“It’s as if it’s purely an energy life-form!”

Aaron’s voice carried in from outside, and all three looked up. Their expressions varied:

On Helen Cho’s face was delight,

Wu Jiaqi looked excited, while Skye was rather apprehensive—time to repay her “debt” again?

Remembering Aaron’s forceful maneuvers, she was both scared and expectant. But then she realized there were three of them present, so maybe she’d be okay.

“Exactly,” Helen Cho said rapidly. “It’s some sort of energy entity! Its genes are beyond what our existing technology can analyze, practically a whole other level of existence.”

She was speaking so fast and beaming with enthusiasm. “If we can figure it out, humanity might usher in another grand Cambrian-style evolution! I’ll need more—”

As Helen Cho spoke, her words trailed off. She had spotted a flower in Aaron’s hand, far more radiant than the original.

“This is…” She looked confused.

“Want to study it?” Aaron asked with a faint smile. “This bloom is more perfect, more powerful than the one you’ve been working on. It contains a path to godhood, and it’s right here in front of you.”

Helen Cho’s gaze locked firmly onto that gleaming flower, following every subtle movement of Aaron’s hand. She nodded almost unconsciously.

Aaron turned to Wu Jiaqi. “Doctor, I feel like I’ve got a lot of pent-up heat today…”

Norman must have given her a heads-up, because Wu Jiaqi immediately understood. She let out a soft laugh.

“I have a ‘throat-cooling’ method and an ‘inner-body’ cooling method— which would you like to try?”

As she spoke, she came up and lightly touched Aaron, opening her mouth slightly. Indeed, he was very hot to the touch! Her expression turned serious.

“You need immediate treatment. I recommend combining both methods.”

Skye rolled her eyes. The good doctor apparently wasn’t worrying about the setting or who else might be around, fully focused on “helping.” But what could Skye do except assist? Dressed in a white coat, she happened to be on hand as a “nurse.”

Three hours of “treatment” ensued.

Wu Jiaqi drank some hot, frothy milk to quench her thirst and wiped sweat from her brow, looking exhausted. Her face had flushed red from the exertion, and even though it wasn’t that time of the month, her body felt strange and unwell.

“How do you feel now?” she asked.

Aaron, his “fire” temporarily doused, sat upright. “You’re indeed a miracle doctor. Your techniques were excellent, so I’ve decided to grant you ladies your employee benefits in advance.”

Wu Jiaqi was about to protest— after all, as a doctor, wasn’t it her duty to treat the patient? But then—

“Oh my god, my body…”

Wu Jiaqi felt an intense itching all over. Wounds that had inadvertently been torn open during “treatment” now healed up rapidly. She also sensed a surge of power through her body, banishing all fatigue.

And not just Wu Jiaqi— Helen Cho noticed abnormal changes too. Their skin appeared fairer, and they felt utterly renewed.

Only Skye’s reaction was different: as she too received the same power, a strange force clung to her and triggered petrification.

“What’s happening to Skye?” asked Helen Cho, alarmed, seeing Skye’s body turn to stone.

“Hold on,” Aaron told them, preventing them from running over. He sensed that beneath her rock-hard shell, Skye’s internal systems were undergoing some remarkable transformation.

Sure enough, a short while later a peculiar shockwave flared from inside her, shattering the stone shell. Skye emerged unscathed from her petrified state. She looked down at her hands, confused. “I felt just now like—”

“That was a quake shock. It’s part of your inherited power,” Aaron explained calmly.

Approaching Skye, he plucked a hair from her and absorbed it. In the next moment, those familiar streams of light flickered before vanishing:

[Shockwave: You can freely generate vibrational shockwaves or cause earthquakes, while simultaneously being immune to any effects of vibration yourself.]

“Inherited power?” Skye repeated blankly. “Who are you? Am I a mutant?”

Aaron shook his head, raising his hand and focusing on a distant glass beaker. A ripple of invisible force instantly shattered the beaker.
“You’re not a mutant— you’re Inhuman, another type of special genetic lineage.”

Skye gaped, transfixed by that display. She hesitated, then mimicked him, targeting a distant beaker. Concentrating, she unleashed a shockwave that spanned about ten meters. Immediately, repeated bursts echoed as a whole wall of glass beakers blew apart.

Skye recoiled, close to tears. Oh, I’ve messed up again. Some of those machines cost millions. Guess I’ll be paying off even more debt.

“All right, that cost goes on your tab,” Aaron remarked, reading her mind. Skye slumped in despair, finally giving up. She’d already owed a hundred billion. What’s a few dozen more billions? If I can’t resist, might as well enjoy it.

“How exactly did you do that? I mean—” Skye started, but Aaron tapped her lightly. He bestowed the “Ambidexterity / Opposing Hands technique” on her, originally from an octopus’s perfect coordination. It gave her impeccable muscle control. If used in sports, it could blow away the competition. Instantly, Skye felt as though her body’s every muscle, every fiber, was following her commands. She also realized she could guide her quake powers with precision.

Testing it, Skye targeted another area and activated her ability. She wasn’t yet at Aaron’s standard, but only three glass beakers broke this time— a tenfold improvement in control. Holding her breath, she tried once more. She was now able to precisely manipulate her body and the quake shock at will.

“Amazing!” she gasped, scarcely believing such miracles. Her gaze at Aaron shone with awe.

“But… what’s the principle behind it? Is it ‘divine blessing’?” Helen Cho murmured at the sudden transformations, her scientific worldview reeling.

So many fundamentals— the law of conservation of mass-energy, standard biochemistry— all seemed defied.

Wu Jiaqi, likewise stunned by her own body’s changes, recovered and said, “Yes, it’s a blessing. A gift from the gods! Aaron is a god, my god.” She fixed him with worshipful eyes. “So, mighty deity— could you bestow your ‘physical grace’ upon us as well?”

She approached with parted lips, sometimes curling or flattening them in a teasing way.

“Well, well, you cunning vixen,” Aaron said with playful severity. “Come, let this old master tame you with my mighty rod!” As a benevolent lord, he was willing to quell a monstrous fox spirit through physical mercy.

Casually, he granted Wu Jiaqi the “Opposing Hands” technique too. This technique wasn’t just for controlling superhuman powers; in “other times,” it produced… extra potency.

“Tsk~ interesting,” he muttered. He had to admit these “fully upgraded fox spirits” had formidable combat capabilities. But there was always a higher mountain.

The next day,

Aaron parted from the three “octopus ladies.” Seeing no one around, he smiled smugly. I came out on top again. Checking the time— half past nine in the morning. He’d gone a sleepless night, but felt energized. With a slight shudder, he shook off all dust from his body. Taking a single step, he teleported to the Osborn CEO’s office.

At that moment, Hill was there at the desk, working diligently. Hearing something, she looked up, but only for a moment, then returned to her papers. After three seconds, she abruptly jerked her head back up— Huh, he’s already gone?

Hill blinked. “What’s going on? Did he come and go in a flash?” She got up to check Aaron’s office chair— still ice-cold. After a second’s thought, she realized, He must have a convenient ability. Then she shook her head and immersed herself in more work.

Meanwhile, on the second floor of Osborn Group…

“Welcome to Osborn Group— though soon it’ll likely be called ‘the Aaron Group.’” One of the main Bio-Research leads, Professor Connors, personally greeted the students from Empire State University.

Unexpectedly, though, besides that group, there was another cluster of visitors from Midtown High, a handful of their top students. Peter Parker and Harry Osborn were among them.

“There are about 32,000 species of spiders worldwide, subdivided into three major categories…” Peter explained to Harry like a walking encyclopedia, listing out the knowledge he had. Harry, yawning, wasn’t that keen. As Norman’s former heir, he never needed to study such detail. He only had to know how to manage a company or handle relationships. Lately his path changed: all he needed was to serve “the boss.”

Up front, Connors saw how thorough Peter’s knowledge was, a bit surprised. He noticed Harry as well, giving him a polite nod, then continuing the planned briefing.

He was extremely serious about it this time. Norman had relayed Aaron’s intentions to him, so he had to do his best. Sweeping his gaze over them, he quickly spotted Gwen Stacy.

“Ms. Stacy.”

“Professor Connors?” Gwen said, looking surprised.

“There’s something I’d like your help with,” he told her, holding up an ID badge. “I need an assistant to help me maintain order during the visit. Would you mind?”

Gwen felt like she’d just won the lottery. “Absolutely— I’d be delighted.”

Taking the ID, she saw her photo, name, and the words “Osborn Group Intern.”

“What is…” she asked.

“I read your file. You’re very talented, and Osborn Group needs people like you,” Connors said. Of course, he had no idea it was “the highest boss’s” directive. Gwen didn’t know that either, so she excitedly nodded.

Outside, countless people practically broke down the door trying to work here. Gwen Stacy was no different. ESU had leveraged Otto’s and Connors’s connections hoping to get closer ties to Osborn, which in turn would greatly boost the school’s reputation if it worked.

Hearing this, the other students looked at Gwen with envy and gave her a round of applause. The air was thick with jealousy. Among the crowd, a red-haired girl with an exaggerated figure looked on with a forced smile despite also clapping.

Meanwhile, both Peter and Harry stared in a daze at Gwen.

“My God, she’s beautiful! And now… she’s already got a foot in at Osborn,” Peter mumbled, feeling a pang of envy.

Harry nodded in agreement. “She’s indeed really pretty…”

Recalling Norman’s hints, Harry realized something. Turning to Peter, he said, “Dude, you didn’t fall for her, did you? Take my advice and don’t get close.”

“Ha ha, as if she’d ever look at me,” Peter said awkwardly, clearly flustered.

Harry fixed him with a serious look. “No, I’m serious. That girl isn’t for us. She belongs to… the gods.”

He’d never sounded so earnest. He wanted to spare his new friend from walking down a dead end. Despite mediocre grades, Harry had sharp instincts for power structures. He saw that Gwen being chosen as an assistant wasn’t coincidence.

Gwen moved beside Connors, reaching for the files in his hand. But he simply shook his head. “I’m in perfect health now, and I want to fully enjoy life. Just keep an eye on everyone else and help me with small tasks.”

Gwen nodded, not suspecting any hidden motives. Everyone knew that Connors was one of those ‘miracles’ produced by Osborn’s CEO, Aaron.

“All right, folks— gather around. Welcome to Osborn Group’s ‘Tree of Life…’” Connors pointed to a central 3D projection shining with golden light. He motioned them closer. Displayed on the tree were “fruit” representing the results of R&D at Osborn, each point signifying a wise creation borne of countless hours of sweat.

Then, the Tree of Life morphed into a complex vascular network diagram. “You might be wondering what this is… In front of you is the underlying mechanism behind our ‘Peptide Body Regeneration Serum,’ a miracle devised by Osborn Group’s founder, also known as the ‘Miracle God’—Mr. Aaron!”

At the mention of “Aaron,” everyone reacted. Even in just a day, the name had become widely known: he was on the verge of creating an unprecedented perfect world. He had advanced biotech by leaps and bounds, single-handedly dragging humanity forward.

Gwen’s eyes sparkled with excitement— maybe one day she’d personally work under that legendary figure. She was full of hope.

Deeply absorbed in Connors’ lecture on the miracles behind that serum, the crowd listened to story after story about it. Meanwhile, Connors glanced up, noticing Aaron’s silhouette behind the group. Aaron motioned for him not to speak up, and Connors got the hint, continuing to share amusing lab anecdotes.

Truth be told, Aaron felt slightly awkward about being idolized. He himself knew he wasn’t that knowledgeable about these matters— asked face-to-face, he’d probably say “I don’t know” to most. “Maybe I should invest an hour a day in learning,” he mused. With his current brain, an hour for him equaled months for an ordinary person. At least that would keep up appearances?

Aaron was pondering this when he sensed a certain gaze on him. He looked over. At the back of the crowd was a red-haired girl, lips pursed, blankly staring at him. She was actually quite pretty, with a very full figure. Just a glance was enough to see… Her child definitely wouldn’t starve.