Is this a game?
Is this a virtual world?
Or, is it just a very long dream of his own?
Zhang Lan had doubted this before, but now he no longer doubted it, because he felt a heart-wrenching pain, a pain of his soul being torn apart.
Looking at Uncle Ben's body, Peter wailed beside him like an abandoned child.
Slowly, Zhang Lan felt his eyes fill with a liquid. He thought it was tears. Was he crying?
He didn't want to cry in front of Uncle Ben, so he wiped his eyes with his hand, only to find his hand stained with a vivid red color.
"Blood tears!"
This was Zhang Lan's last memory. Then he only felt a sharp pain in his eyes, and he fainted again.
"Bang!"
A cloud of smoke rose. This time, Zhang Lan was truly unconscious. Without the system's help, he could no longer maintain the Transformation Jutsu and automatically dispelled it.
Just as the smoke was about to dissipate, a black cloak was draped over Zhang Lan. It was the Shadow Clone. Zhang Lan hadn't given the Shadow Clone a direct command to dispel earlier, so it had followed him.
At the last moment when Zhang Lan might have been exposed, it concealed him.
The Shadow Clone suppressed the urge to look at Uncle Ben on the ground, glared at Peter, who was immersed in extreme self-reproach, and spoke Uncle Ben's last words.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
After speaking, it ignored Peter, picked up Zhang Lan, and disappeared in a few leaps.
Not long after the Shadow Clone left, an ambulance arrived at the scene. Someone had called an ambulance for Peter, but unfortunately, the paramedics only shook their heads, comforted Peter a few times, and then left.
A pierced heart and stopped breathing meant there was no hope of resuscitation.
After the paramedics delivered the death notice, Peter, who had been suppressing his emotions, finally couldn't hold back any longer and cried out in agony.
When he woke up again, Zhang Lan felt his eyes were very dry. He blinked hard, hoping to moisten his eyes, but they became even drier.
"You're awake?" the Shadow Clone said, its voice very hoarse. "How are you? If you're okay, I'll dispel the clone. I don't have my ID, so we're currently at one of Tony's villas in New York."
Tony, at this time, was still in the basement of his Los Angeles villa, tinkering with his Iron Man suit.
Zhang Lan didn't speak, but merely nodded with an indifferent expression.
[Shadow Clone · Dispel]
The Shadow Clone made a hand seal, and with a "bang," it turned into a cloud of smoke and quickly dissipated.
A small chunk of memory information flooded into the mind of the indifferent Zhang Lan, who was originally on the bed. Compared to the system's skill information from before, it was much less, only making him slightly mentally fatigued.
He shook his head vigorously. With the system's experience, he quickly got used to it, rapidly browsing the information brought by the Shadow Clone, and understood why he had appeared here.
He touched his arm with some indifference, his expression dazed.
Just three hours ago, in order to hurry, he had overused the Eight Inner Gates under extreme fatigue, causing many capillaries in his body to burst. Now, however, he had recovered as before. The blood had been washed away by the Shadow Clone, but the wounds on his skin had healed automatically.
The Undying ability was explicitly stated to have no recovery capability.
The Shadow Clone did not have permission to access the system, so it couldn't fully understand the reason, only having some vague guesses.
"System, bring up the personal panel."
Zhang Lan silently thought, his hand touching his chest, where a heart was beating.
He clearly remembered that his heart had previously burst along with his capillaries, and naturally would not be beating.
*-*-*-*-*
Name: Zhang Lan
Status: Healthy
Chakra: 94 / 94
Skills:
E-rank: Clone Jutsu, Substitution Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu
D-rank: Illusion
C-rank: Front Lotus
B-rank: Shadow Clone Jutsu
A-rank: Undying, Cellular Riot (Passive)
S-rank: Sand Shield (Passive), One Thousand Years of Death
SSS-rank: Konoha Physique
Overall Ability: D-rank (Combat Value: 94)
Overall Evaluation: Insufficient combat skill reserves, too low Chakra storage, too low combat experience, too low psychological quality.
Current Mission: None
Current Assets: Energy Points: 31581; Rule Fragments: None;
*-*-*-*-*
"Indeed."
Seeing his attribute panel, Zhang Lan found the reason for his body's recovery. He used his mind to check the A-rank Cellular Riot and SSS-rank Physique Modification respectively.
*-*-*-*-*
Name: Cellular Riot (Passive)
Category: Superpower
Rank: A
Description: During non-combat moments, it can accelerate cell division and reproduction. The fewer total cells in the body, the faster cell division and reproduction.
Cost: Upper limit of cell division times.
Note: A person's cell division times are limited in a lifetime. Excessive consumption will permanently reduce the upper limit of physical strength, and in severe cases, it will lead to cell apoptosis and death.
*-*-*-*-*
Name: Physique Modification
Category: Physique Modification
Rank: SSS
Description: Automatically possesses all elemental Chakra attributes. Under suitable environmental conditions, it will awaken any Konoha physique.
Cost: Unknown.
Note: As long as conditions permit, the host can even awaken the bloodline of Otsutsuki Kaguya.
*-*-*-*-*
Seeing the skill "Cellular Riot," Zhang Lan couldn't help but think of Wolverine's terrifying regenerative ability.
"What a pity, it's a non-combat skill. It only takes effect automatically when out of combat, or when ensuring no-damage combat."
As for the only SSS-rank skill "Physique Modification," to put it plainly, it's a potential gift package that can awaken any Bloodline Limit from Naruto in certain environments.
"Oh, right, resurrection!"
Zhang Lan shuddered. He had to rush back quickly and not let anyone cremate Uncle Ben's body. Speaking of resurrection, there were indeed many resurrection jutsus or bloodlines in Naruto.
Chiyo's Chiyo's Living Corpse Reincarnation, Konoha's Impure World Reincarnation, and the Rinnegan's Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique could all achieve it.
With this in mind, Zhang Lan quickly rushed home. The location chosen by the Shadow Clone earlier was not far from home; after all, Tony was rich and had many places to choose from.
Because he was going home, he didn't use the Transformation Jutsu. To avoid exposure, he only moved at a speed faster than ordinary people. The police station still needed to collect evidence, so they certainly wouldn't cremate the body so quickly.
Broken glass lay scattered at the doorstep, a result of Peter slamming the door shut earlier.
Stepping over the glass shards, he entered the house and immediately saw Aunt May sitting in the living room, with two black police officers conversing with her about something.
Seeing Aunt May's tear-reddened eyes, the sorrow that had subsided surged up again.
Two small black dots appeared in each of his eyes, slowly rotating around his black irises as Zhang Lan's emotions erupted.
Faintly visible.
He didn't look at Peter, who was standing stiffly to the side, but walked directly towards Aunt May.
Aunt May saw him, covered her mouth, and choked up again.
Zhang Lan didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only put his arm around her shoulder, letting Aunt May lean on his chest.
Looking at the heartbroken Aunt May, his heart, which had never truly belonged to this world, finally pulled itself back from his past life to the present.
"Since my past life is over, and I don't have too many attachments, why should I cling to it?"
At the same time, he secretly swore in his heart that he would never let Aunt May suffer even the slightest harm again.
Never!
"If anyone dares to harm Aunt May, I will never let them off lightly!" Thinking this, Zhang Lan narrowed his eyes and looked at Peter.
Peter was clearly also very sad, his eyes swollen and red. He must have cried for a long time before, but in front of Aunt May, he couldn't cry, so he forcibly held back his tears.
At this moment, Peter was asking the black police officer for a sketch of the robber. The black officer, understanding, gave Peter a copy; the original was at the police station.
"One more thing, he has a star-shaped tattoo on his left wrist," the black police officer kindly reminded.
Peter didn't respond. He stared blankly at the portrait in his hand, engraving that face firmly into his mind.
"Ding, detecting host's emotional fluctuation, matching corresponding main mission, releasing main mission: First Battle;"
*-*-*-*-*
First Battle: The host's emotions need to be released, hatred needs to be avenged. Defeat Spider-Man, then find the murderer of Ben Parker and exact your revenge.
*-*-*-*-*
This mission was very much in line with Zhang Lan's intentions, because he was going to do it anyway.
He wanted to coax Aunt May to sleep first, but how could Aunt May, having just lost her beloved, possibly sleep?
She held Zhang Lan's hand, speaking illogical words, rambling on and on without any pattern, saying whatever came to mind.
Seeing this, he used a trip to the bathroom to create a Shadow Clone, sending the clone to accompany Aunt May, while he himself went upstairs. He was going to set up a fight.
Peter's door was locked. Zhang Lan knocked on the door. Both he and Peter needed a good release.
"Aunt May?" Peter's voice trembled greatly, and his position indicated he was squatting behind the door. "Is something wrong? I'm about to go to sleep."
Peter obviously didn't want Aunt May to see him crying.
"Thump thump thump." Zhang Lan didn't speak, still knocking softly on the door, careful not to disturb Aunt May downstairs.
Sensing the knocker's persistence, Peter opened the door from inside. His eyes were even redder and more swollen, his eyelashes stuck together, and there was a faint reflection of bright light in the corners of his eyes.
"It's you, Lan. You..." Peter hadn't finished speaking when Zhang Lan grabbed him by the collar and walked towards the room's window.
"Lan, let go of me. I don't want to hurt you."
Peter didn't resist. He still didn't know about Zhang Lan's cultivation. Zhang Lan had always kept this a secret from his family. Having just lost Uncle Ben, he didn't want to hurt his two other relatives now.
Zhang Lan ignored him, pulled Peter, and jumped directly out the window.
This action startled Peter a bit. Being quick to react, he quickly grabbed Zhang Lan's shoulder, not to break free, but to try and twist their bodies in mid-air so that he would be below. His physical condition after his mutation was very strong, and he could completely act as a human cushion.
Peter exerted force with his arm, surprised to find that his body didn't rotate downwards as expected; there was a force counteracting his effort.
One should know that his strength had once accidentally pulled out a faucet.
Zhang Lan pulled Peter and landed steadily on the ground, ignoring Peter's surprise, and dragged Peter out.
"Lan, what's going on? Have you been to Oscorp too? I..." Peter was a bit incoherent, and he only managed to free himself from Zhang Lan's hand by increasing his strength slightly.
Zhang Lan remained silent, not speaking. After Peter broke free, he pointed towards the living room and led the way into the distance.
Peter turned his head to look at the living room. Through the window, he could see Aunt May sitting there, and beside her sat Zhang Lan, who had just been in front of him.
Peter abruptly turned back to look at Zhang Lan, who had already walked away. He hesitated for a moment, and seeing Zhang Lan's figure about to disappear from sight, he gritted his teeth and sprinted after him.
The more Peter chased, the more surprised he became. He had awakened his spider physique a few days ago and knew how much more agile he was than ordinary people, but he found that the person in front of him had sixty percent of his own speed.
Although not as fast as him, it was still terrifying compared to ordinary people.
The two chased each other like this until they arrived at an abandoned factory. Peter recognized this place; it was his and Zhang Lan's secret base when they were children, an abandoned steel foundry.
"Who exactly are you? Why do you look exactly like Lan?" Peter asked loudly when Zhang Lan finally stopped.
"You followed me without knowing who I am?" Zhang Lan retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, buddy, I just don't want you harassing my brother Lan. I specifically came to warn you, understand?" Peter's words stirred Zhang Lan's heart.
Still, this fight had to happen. His hand seals changed, and he was ready to fight.
[Ninjutsu · Clone Jutsu]
What happened next sent shivers down Peter's spine. Like a special effect, a cloud of white smoke quickly faded, and then six Zhang Lans appeared before him.
"Are you... are you a ghost?" Peter was a little scared. After all, just a few days ago, he was just an ordinary American boy.
Zhang Lan didn't respond. The five clones plus the original body rushed forward, attacking Peter in unison. Although Peter was a little scared, having danger sensing, he could clearly feel that the other party had no obvious hostility towards him, but rather a kind of... well... resentment?
Peter's agility was superior to Zhang Lan's. He easily dodged Zhang Lan's straight punch with a flash. He jumped and hung upside down from an iron cable, looking at Zhang Lan running on the wall against gravity, becoming increasingly astonished.
"Hey, buddy, can't we just talk things out? I'm in a really bad mood today, and I don't want to hurt you."
Peter dodged Zhang Lan's attacks while kindly warning him. He still didn't want to fight people who didn't show malice.
Zhang Lan also stopped moving upon hearing this. There was nothing he could do; Peter's speed was too much faster than his, and he couldn't hit the guy.
"System, can you scan Peter's data?" Zhang Lan tentatively asked the system.
Regarding the unconscious Shadow Clone not dispelling: Xiao Lan admits that he was a novice at that time and wasn't too strict, but, in the author's setting, yes, it is.
Seedlings need care. You don't have to love them, please don't hurt them.