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the destiny was traveling at high speed through the Universe.
Peter stood before the porthole, watching the azure Planet gradually enlarge in his field of vision.
Almost home!
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a familiar voice suddenly came from the Captain's quarters—
This was because the destiny was getting closer to Earth, automatically connecting to the Avengers' private communication channel.
Just after connecting, Peter heard an incredibly familiar female voice:
"Is Mr. Hawkeye still unreachable?"
The owner of this voice was none other than Gwen!
Peter's heart stirred, and a strong feeling of longing involuntarily welled up within him.
He wanted to speak to Gwen right then and tell her how much he missed her, but the words suddenly caught in his throat—
He wanted to see how much Gwen could achieve without him by her side.
While he was thinking this, Natasha's voice came through the communication channel:
"Still no contact. Barton has been missing for over 24 hours! The Barton in the news committing terrorist attacks is undoubtedly just a fake."
"Almost as soon as I dealt with those blind fools, Barton lost contact... How could there be such a coincidence in this World?"
"This must be the work of those damn green-skinned goblins too!"
As soon as Natasha finished speaking, Tony's voice followed in the channel:
"Barton, Steve, Banner, Davis... the number of missing people is increasing. Damn it, haven't they already stolen our abilities?"
"Why are they still going after them?"
"Guys, haven't you been following the latest news!" Daisy's voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of rapid keyboard typing:
"New Superheroes have been appearing all over the World. Among them, guys codenamed Mockingbird and Dragonfly Man even defeated the fake Hawkeye and fake Captain America in the streets!"
"Without a doubt, this is their latest plan!"
"Those goblins intend to kidnap us, the originals, one by one, then have their people pose as us to cause destruction, and finally have another group of their people dress up as new Superheroes to step in and stop it."
"This way, they can not only brand us as villains but also logically inherit our popularity and our standing in the eyes of the public!"
"They want to completely replace us! Then, through our influence, they can better seize our place!"
After hearing Daisy's analysis, the Superheroes in the communication channel all turned pale with anger.
This plan of the Skrulls was truly insidious.
It completely blocked all their paths for a counterattack; in this situation, even they didn't know how to respond.
After all, the current situation was entirely against them, and the power the enemy possessed was in no way inferior to theirs. It was almost an irreversible dead end.
Just as they fell into silence, racking their brains for a way to break the deadlock.
Clap clap clap!
A strange round of applause suddenly came through the channel.
Everyone was stunned to hear the applause.
A look of exasperation appeared on Tony's face. Which blind idiot dared to interrupt his thoughts by clapping at a time like this?
He instinctively wanted to lash out, but just as the harsh words reached his lips, he suddenly froze.
Wait, why was this style of doing things so similar to a certain bastard?
Just as this thought occurred to him, a lazy voice drifted in lightly:
"Not bad, Daisy. A very thorough analysis! I really didn't misjudge you."
The moment they heard this voice, the communication channel instantly exploded with activity.
Everyone couldn't help but exclaim in unison:
"Peter?!"
Only Gwen, currently in her single dormitory at Empire State University, involuntarily pursed her lips, her heart feeling as tangled and uncomfortable as a mess of hemp.
Peter... had heard their entire previous conversation.
What should she do? Would Peter think she was useless?
Even though he had specifically instructed her before leaving Earth, she had still messed everything up.
She had performed miserably in this Secret War against the Skrulls, failing to fulfill her responsibilities as a leader.
Peter must be very disappointed right now.
Would he... stop liking her because of this?
The more Gwen thought about it, the worse she felt. She instinctively muted her microphone, not wanting Peter to hear any emotional distress from her.
Her performance was already bad enough; she didn't want to show a fragile side to Peter and make him think she was just a useless burden.
...
"Eh? Sister Sif, where's Peter?"
In the cabin of the destiny, Mantis, who happened to be passing by, noticed that Peter had suddenly disappeared from the Captain's quarters. She couldn't help but turn back to ask Sif what had happened.
Sif glanced at the empty Captain's quarters and then spoke with a slightly sour tone:
"He must have gone back ahead of time to coax his 'main wife'! Don't mind him; even if he's not here, the destiny will land at the designated location anyway."
"Main wife?" Mantis tilted her head:
"You mean Sister Gwen?"
Thinking about how much Peter cared for Gwen, Mantis didn't feel jealous but instead felt incredibly envious.
This feeling of being infinitely cared for must be wonderful!
I really hope that one day... Peter can care for me like that too, so I can feel what that kind of emotion is like.
...
At the same time Mantis was secretly fantasizing about this.
Gwen, who was quietly weeping, suddenly noticed a purple light glowing on her body.
This is...
Seeing this long-unseen purple light, Gwen was first stunned.
Then, she felt a pair of strong, powerful hands hugging her from behind.
There was only one person in the World who could appear by her side so stealthily without triggering her Spider-Sense...
"Who upset my little crybaby again?"
"Peter, how could you..."
Peter reached out and gently stroked her short hair, saying in a casual manner:
"My 'main wife' didn't lead the welcome for my return; wasn't that enough to catch my attention?"
The incredibly gentle voice rang in Gwen's ear, causing all the exhaustion and grievances in her heart to surge up like a tide at that moment.
She couldn't help but turn around and throw herself into that familiar and warm embrace, sobbing breathlessly as she spoke:
"I'm... I'm sorry, Peter. I messed everything up."
"Mr. Barton has lost contact, Mr. Rogers has lost contact... those fakes are hurting civilians everywhere in our name, and the whole World is cursing us."
"I established a Mutual Trust Protocol and made contingency plans in advance, but it wasn't enough... I'm so useless, I couldn't stop them at all."
Facing Gwen's intermittent narrative, Peter just listened silently, while distressfully reaching out to stroke Gwen's heavy dark circles and her slightly pale lips.
To make Gwen, whose physical fitness far exceeded ordinary people's by a hundredfold, look so haggard, showed how much pressure she had been under recently.
"You've already done very well."
While using the Horse Talisman to help Gwen dispel her fatigue, Peter gently stroked her hair and comforted her:
"I've generally understood the situation. If you hadn't been supporting things, and Steve or Tony had led the situation instead, things would only be worse than they are now."
"You've achieved a level that many people couldn't, even if you're still a tiny bit short compared to your omnipotent boyfriend."
"But obviously, there's no need for self-abasement for losing to me!"