[Hawaii]
By noon, more and more people started gathering on the beach.
Floating in the water, Alex looked around.
Everywhere he looked, there were sexy women in bikinis. As far as his eyes could see, it was either round, perky hips or full breasts that seemed ready to spill out.
"This place really is a gentleman's paradise."
Alex floated on his back in a starfish position, enjoying the sunshine and the feeling of being surrounded by beautiful women.
———
Compared to Alex, Gwen was clearly not in such a good mood.
Eight at night, an Oscorp vehicle had brought her to New York.
After leaving, Gwen found a secluded spot, took off her Spider-Man mask, changed into a T-shirt and jeans, and walked alone through what had become ruins of New York.
Finally, she arrived at her home.
There, she saw her mother and her two younger brothers.
They were rummaging through the wreckage, trying to find something, but came up empty.
Gwen's emotions were complicated. She walked over, hesitated for a moment, then softly called out, "Mom."
Helen Stacy turned around. When she saw her daughter, grief surged up. She covered her mouth. Though she didn't cry, her eyes had already turned red, "My child."
"My child."
Helen stepped forward and tightly hugged her daughter, "It's so good that you're okay."
"Where did you go? We were all so worried about you."
"Your father is already gone. If something had happened to you too, we really couldn't bear it."
Gwen's two younger brothers also walked over and hugged their mother and sister.
Only then did hot tears slide down from the corners of Gwen's eyes.
"We'll get through this."
Gwen bit her lip and said, "Don't worry. I'll take care of you all."
"Dad is gone."
"From now on, let me protect you!"
———
When the sun rose again, Alex went to Caitlin's room. Today, he had asked Oscorp to arrange some activities.
After having breakfast with Caitlin, they walked out of the villa.
Ahead of them, a stretched Lincoln was already waiting.
Caitlin said with anticipation, "Mr. John, where are we going today?"
"How about an amusement park?", Alex replied casually.
At that moment, up ahead, Norman Osborn personally opened the door of the limousine.
But as the door opened, dazzling, colorful light streamed out from inside.
Old Osborn froze for a moment and instinctively stepped back.
Alex also stopped.
Only Caitlin saw nothing and kept walking forward.
Alex grabbed her, rubbed his nose, and said, "Caitlin, our vacation is over."
Caitlin was taken aback, then asked, "Has the door opened?"
"It has."
Alex let out a long breath and took the girl's hand, "Let's go. Time to go home."
The two of them got into the car, stepping into that brilliant, colorful light.
In the blink of an eye, the light vanished.
Norman Osborn stood there, dumbfounded. After a while, he cautiously reached a hand into the car.
But aside from air, he touched nothing.
"Strange."
"Where did Mr. John and Miss Caitlin go?"
Old Osborn looked completely bewildered.
———
[New York]
The city was gradually returning to order.
People were rebuilding their homes on top of the ruins.
But outside the city, in a newly planned cemetery, a funeral was being held.
The funeral of New York Police Commissioner George Stacy.
At this moment, rain was falling from the sky.
Holding an umbrella and dressed in a black suit, Gwen watched as the coffin containing her father's body was lowered into the grave.
Then the priest began to speak, "Today, another of our brothers returns to the Lord's embrace."
Gwen lowered her head and looked at her two younger brothers beside her.
Then she softly said to them, "Dad hasn't left us."
The two boys nodded, though their eyes were still wet.
A moment later, people began to lay flowers.
When it was Gwen's turn, she held a bouquet of chrysanthemums and walked to the grave.
She threw the flowers in, "I love you, Dad."
Next, the police fired their guns in salute.
The funeral was over.
As she was leaving, Gwen noticed a lone figure standing in the cemetery.
She softly said to her mother, "Mom, you go ahead."
"I'm going to check on a friend."
Helen Stacy nodded and took her two sons' hands as they got into the car first.
Holding an umbrella, Gwen walked to another corner of the cemetery.
"Aunt May," Gwen called softly.
Ahead of her, a woman stood before a gravestone, unable to hide her grief.
On the gravestone was the name 'Peter Parker.'
Hearing the call, Aunt May turned around and saw Gwen, "I remember you. You're Peter's classmate."
Gwen nodded, "Are you okay?"
Aunt May gave a bitter smile, "In one week, I lost my husband and my nephew. How could I be okay?"
Gwen fell silent.
She knew that any kind of comfort now would be useless to this woman.
The wound in her heart could only slowly recover on its own.
But a wound like this would never truly heal. Never.
Holding an umbrella, Gwen quietly stood there, keeping Aunt May company.
By evening, the rain stopped.
Gwen returned home.
It was a temporary shelter built with government assistance, very simple.
Compared to their old home, it could only be described as ugly.
When Gwen pushed the door open, she saw her two younger brothers helping prepare dinner.
Her mother Helen came out of the kitchen, carrying a pot of stew, along with a vegetable salad and bread.
That was their family's dinner.
"Mrs. Merlin gave us some lamb. I used it for dinner. Try it."
Helen then added, "Oh right, Gwen."
"Can you help me get something from Mrs. Lawrence in Unit 3?"
"I went to her place this afternoon and left something there."
Gwen nodded with a smile, "Okay, Mom."
She pushed the door open and stepped outside. Just then, her phone rang.
Gwen received a message, ["Miss Spider, your items have been prepared and placed at the location you specified."]
It was a message from Norman Osborn.
Gwen glanced at it, then quickly walked toward Mrs. Lawrence's house.
At night, Gwen put on her Spider-Man mask and wore a hooded tracksuit as she arrived beneath a statue.
The Statue of Liberty.
She raised her hand. With a snap from her wrist-mounted web shooter, a strand of web shot out and stuck to the statue.
Gwen immediately launched upward. Moments later, she reached the torch of the Statue of Liberty.
There, a silver-white suitcase lay waiting.
Gwen opened it. Inside was a neatly folded suit, along with matching gloves and boots.
She put them on and pulled on a white mask.
Beside the suitcase, she also saw a card.
Gwen opened it. On it were lines of elegant handwriting.
["Dear Miss Spider, please forgive me for adding some functions to your suit without permission."]
["For example, I added an adhesion system to the gloves and boots, allowing you to climb buildings and other surfaces."]
["As for the other functions, please refer to the attached manual."]
Gwen smiled slightly, "How thoughtful, Mr. Osborn."
She skimmed through the manual. Just as she finished, a notification popped up on her phone.
["Shocking! Unknown creature spotted on the streets of New York!"]
Another notification followed.
["Humanoid creature resembling a dinosaur appears in New York streets. Have mutated species emerged in New York?"]
Gwen put her phone away and looked toward the direction of the city.
At that moment, a helicopter flew above the Statue of Liberty.
Gwen pulled up her hood to cover her head, then raised her hand and fired another web.
It attached to the underside of the helicopter, lifting her into the air as she hung beneath it, heading toward the city.
When she reached the city, Gwen jumped down.
Then she began firing webs in succession, swinging between buildings.
After swinging across another street, Gwen descended toward a building under reconstruction.
She landed right on a window.
The suit's adhesion system allowed her to cling to the glass like a real spider. Reflected in the window was a figure dressed in a black-and-white suit, wearing a hood and mask.
Looking at her reflection, Gwen said to herself, "From today on, you are Spider-Man!"
———
("You're not bringing Arthur?")
("No.")
("I'm worried something might happen to him.")
("And no matter how long we stay in another universe, when we come back, almost no time passes.")
("So there's no need to worry about Arthur being scared.")
("Then let's go.")
The guide dog Arthur lay on the carpet, watching his owner and her friend walk into the kitchen.
The next second, they came out again.
Arthur was very smart, otherwise he wouldn't be a guide dog.
But no matter how smart, as a dog, he simply couldn't understand his owner and her friend's behavior.
Of course, Arthur did notice that during the brief trip in and out of the kitchen, his owner and the man's clothes had already changed.
Watching the guide dog lift its head and then lie back down on the carpet, Alex smiled, "We're back."
Caitlin smiled faintly, "Mr. John, I'm starting to like this kind of 'sleepwalking' experience."
"Of course, only if it's with you."
"Is it still night?"
Alex glanced out the window.
The moon hung high in the sky.
He nodded, "Still night."
Caitlin said, "When we left, it was morning. Looks like I need to fix my jet lag."
"That's probably the only downside of this 'sleepwalking.'"
Alex added, "Then I'll go fix my jet lag too."
Caitlin smiled, "I'll walk you there."
"No need."
Alex then reached out and patted the guide dog's head, "Goodbye, Arthur."
The dog huffed a few times through its nose, then stuck out its tongue and licked Alex's hand.
Alex returned to the room across the hallway.
After closing the door, he looked at the lines of information appearing on his retina.
[Multiverse Event "The Amazing Spider-Man" has ended!]
[Now evaluating and settling rewards.]
[Evaluation complete. Details as follows.]
[1. You changed Norman Osborn's fate, obtained "Proficiency Essence" ×30.]
[2. You changed Gwen Stacy's fate, obtained "Proficiency Essence" ×40.]
[3. You caused the "Amazing Spider-Man" universe to develop in an unknown direction, obtained "Proficiency Essence" ×42.]
[4. You completed your fourth multiverse event, obtained Multiverse Crystals ×5.]
[Event settlement complete!]
[New items have been added to your shop.]
After reading the information, Alex had only one thought.
'What a stingy reward.'
Last time, in "Suicide Squad," at least there was a phone. This time, not a single item, all "Proficiency Essence".
But thinking about it, this seemed normal.
After all, nothing major happened in the "Amazing Spider-Man" universe.
Especially in the first part, which was basically Peter Parker and the Lizard's personal conflict.
Compared to DC and Marvel worlds where the world is constantly at risk of destruction, this was insignificant.
It was only because he changed Norman Osborn's death and Martin Sink killed the original Spider-Man, allowing him to create a Gwen Spider-Man, that he got these rewards.
Otherwise, following the normal course, the rewards would probably have been even less.
However, it seemed that invasion events and multiverse events were evaluated and rewarded separately.
In other words, the two were independent and didn't interfere with each other.
Thinking of the invasion event, Alex remembered there were still some of Martin's items he hadn't checked, and he didn't know what was in the "Glory Shop."
He opened his inventory and found the "Transformation Gun."
[Transformation Gun: An item from the "Transformers" universe. It contains the energy of the AllSpark and can grant machines life, turning them into Transformers that fight for you.]
[Note: The AllSpark energy is limited. Three "bullets" remain.]
'Heh! Alittle toy.'
'Interesting.'
Alex took out the "Strong Healing Agent." It looked like an inhalable medicine.
[Strong Healing Agent: Can quickly restore injuries, but only effective for light and moderate wounds.]
'Hmm, pretty average.'
'Basically equivalent to the initial "self-healing.""
Finally, among Martin's items, there was also a rune stone.
[Rune Stone "Scout": Can be used on a target to obtain some information about them, including name and talent.]
'Similar to "Insight."'
After checking Martin's items, Alex opened the "Glory Shop."
He found that quite a few items were already available.
[Magneto Helmet: Can resist mental interference, making abilities like mind reading ineffective.]
[Price: Glory Tokens ×5]
[Sling Ring: A magical tool used with "Teleportation," capable of opening a portal.]
[Price: Glory Tokens ×3]
[Spellbook "Portal": A spell from Kamar-Taj. After learning it, you can use it with a Sling Ring to open portals to any location you want.]
[Price: Glory Tokens ×10]
[Ancient Martial Art "Taiji: Using Four Ounces to Deflect a Thousand Pounds."]
Looking at these items, Alex basically understood that the items in the Glory Shop were related to invasion events.
The invader's items, martial arts, and abilities would appear in the shop, and could be purchased using "Glory Tokens."
At that moment, Alex noticed some interesting things.
[Proficiency Essence ×10: An item that can increase talent proficiency. Each essence increases proficiency by 20 points.]
[Price: Glory Tokens ×2]
[Crimson Eye: Can search for other "Homelanders" across universes and initiate a random invasion.]
[Price: Glory Tokens ×10]
[Banner of Surrender: When facing an invasion or after a failed invasion, this item can be used to surrender. After surrendering, the invasion event ends immediately, but half of your items and half of your Glory Tokens will be deducted. Note: Cannot be activated if you have no Glory Tokens.]
'Interesting, glory Tokens could also be exchanged for "Proficiency Essence.""
And there were items for invading other universes, as well as a white flag for surrender.
Alex scrolled further.
This time, there were some new things.
["Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" Universe Coordinates: Using this coordinate allows you to enter the corresponding universe.]
[Price: Glory Tokens ×100]
["Doctor Strange 2: Multiverse of Madness" Universe Coordinates.]
["Transformers" Universe Coordinates.]
These coordinates were likely universes Martin Sink had been to.
And they could actually be purchased.
Looking at these items, Alex thought, 'If I didn't have Caitlin, this "treasure" who can travel across multiverses, then I would have been waiting years, passively, for invasion events.'
Only after an invasion ended could he buy the "Crimson Eye" or other universe coordinates to begin his multiverse journey.
But in that case, whether he could survive the first invasion would be uncertain.
Overall, his luck had been quite good.
He experienced several multiverse events before being invaded. Otherwise, he might have already become Martin's experience points.
Alex organized his current resources.
[Proficiency Essence ×139]
[Multiverse Crystals ×39]
[Glory Tokens ×64]
'Not bad. And with 39 Multiverse Crystals, I can buy the [Hercules Bracers].'
———
That same night, the superhero "Supersonic" had just finished a performance.
The man, exhausted, arrived at the parking lot.
As he entered the underground parking area, he saw from a distance a Black man in a white suit standing beside his car.
Supersonic walked over and spread his hands with a smile, "Hey, you want an autograph?"
The man turned around. Wearing sunglasses, Supersonic couldn't see the fear in his eyes, nor the subtle signal he was trying to send to the superhero.
"That's exactly what I want."
The man said, "I'm your biggest fan, sir."
"If you ask me, you could totally join The Seven."
Supersonic laughed, took out a pen, and said, "Where do you want me to sign?"
The man turned his back, "How about on my suit?"
Supersonic let out a short laugh, "You sure?"
The man nodded, "Absolutely sure, sir."
"Alright then."
Supersonic walked over, stood behind him, and lowered the pen tip onto the man's white suit.
At that moment, an eyeball suddenly grew out of the white suit.
That eye, filled with malice, stared straight at the superhero.
"What the hell?"
Supersonic's expression changed as he instinctively tried to pull his hand back.
But at that moment, the white suit sprouted tentacles that wrapped around his wrist.
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