Bonfire Assignment 3

When Li Congxin returned to Avengers Base, he found that more than thirty Spider-Men had already gathered on the landing pad outside the base. Little Peter, who had rushed over the moment his Spider-Sense detected something unusual, was there with them, along with Little Peter’s adoptive dad, Tony.

Seeing Li Congxin return, Tony hurried forward and asked, "Clark, how did it go?"

Li Congxin shrugged and countered in an unquestionable tone, "I personally took action. What do you think the result was?"

Received 23,333 Impression Points from Tony Stark!

That display of swagger caught Tony completely off guard.

Turning around, Li Congxin’s gaze fell on Gwen once more. "That guy from before was incredibly strong. If there are others like him among your enemies, I don’t think you have much chance of winning. You’re my divine-power host in a Parallel Universe, after all. I’d hate for the host I painstakingly cultivated to die just like that…"

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the Spider-Men one by one. Finally, he said in an unquestionable tone, "Tell me everything you know. I’ll make the trip myself and deal with that troublesome Inheritor Family for you."

Received … Impression Points from Peter Parker!

Received … Impression Points from Peter…

Naturally, the Spider-Men were overjoyed when they heard Li Congxin’s decision. However, whenever they checked the Impression Points records, they somehow gave people the impression that it was impossible to tell which one was which.

That said, even Ock was somewhat difficult to distinguish by appearance, so Li Congxin simply decided not to bother with it.

Of everyone present, only the Spider-Man from the Earth-616 Main Universe did not blindly celebrate. Instead, he fell into silent thought. As someone who would personally receive an audience with O-A-A in the future, his Spider-Sense was sharper than that of the other Spider-Men. For some reason, he felt that this matter was not so simple.

As if to verify Little Spider’s suspicion, the moment Li Congxin finished speaking, an Any Door crackling with sparks suddenly appeared on the landing pad of Avengers Base.

Immediately afterward, a tall man with a pale face, golden hair, and a countenance resembling a horse stepped out of the Any Door. The instant he appeared, he said to Li Congxin, "Clark, I suggest that you stay here and not get involved in the Spider-Men’s affairs this time."

The visitor was none other than Stephen Strange, one of the Stark Family Trio in the Marvel Cinematic Universe… Ahem, he should be called Doctor Strange now, having successfully changed professions.

Seeing Strange interfere in his affairs the moment he appeared, Li Congxin immediately furrowed his brows. "Strange, you’d better give a detailed explanation for the advice you’ve just offered."

Having personally witnessed Li Congxin successfully "persuade" Dormammu to retreat just as he was about to win, Strange did not dare provoke this Multiversal Level existence. Seeing Li Congxin displeased, he immediately explained, "Clark, I’m not trying to interfere with your decision. It’s just that I previously used the Orb of Agamotto to divine the future, and I discovered that Earth will face many challenges in the time ahead. If you aren’t here…"

Strange did not finish, but it was obvious that the others might not be able to resolve those troubles.

More importantly, matters involving time travel could easily create unforeseen deviations. It was not as though Li Congxin could travel with the Spider-Men to the dimension where the Inheritor Family resided, wipe them all out in five minutes, and return to find that only five minutes had passed in this world.

One had to understand that time flowed at different rates in every world!

Even without mentioning other timelines, the events that had occurred in the Marvel Cinematic Universe alone were enough to sound an alarm for anyone planning to attempt something like this.

On the original timeline, Thor and Loki fell out of the Bifrost’s transportation channel only one or two seconds apart. Yet the time they landed on Saka Planet differed by a full two weeks!

No one could say exactly how time was calculated in the dimension where the Inheritor Family resided, or whether other unforeseen changes might occur in the meantime. If something happened while Li Congxin was away, then by the time he returned, it might truly be too late.

One had to understand that the time rules of the Marvel Cinematic Universe differed from those of other universes.

In other universes, one could play around with something like Back to the Future. But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, doing so would create nothing but another branch of time and change nothing else.

Looking at Strange’s solemn expression, Li Congxin asked in a deep voice, "What exactly will happen to Earth in the future you saw?"

Strange answered seriously, "Clark, you should know that the future isn’t fixed. If I tell you what I saw right now, many established futures might change. That might not necessarily be a good thing…"

Li Congxin waved a hand to stop him from continuing. He glared at him. "Just speak plainly."

Strange gave an helpless smile. "In Huaxia, there’s a saying that even those who do not fear death say: ‘Heaven’s secrets must not be revealed…’"

Li Congxin’s smile had already turned dangerous. "You really aren’t going to tell me?"

"All right. I can’t see clearly." Under Li Congxin’s dangerous gaze, Strange finally abandoned his attempt to keep showing off and confessed decisively, "With your strength, I can’t see any fate connected to you clearly at all. Precisely because of that, the trouble Earth encounters in the future may require you to take action before it can be resolved."

Put that way, it did seem to make some sense.

With Strange’s abilities, there were very few things he could not see clearly. The same was true of Li Congxin, and perhaps the future trouble was the same as well. It was difficult not to connect these two instances of "not seeing clearly."

Li Congxin nodded and readily abandoned his plan to personally kill the Inheritor Family. His gaze swept over the Spider-Men again, and he found that only a few of them still remained calm. Most of them looked normal on the surface, but their excitement had already turned into disappointment. Though they were separated by Spider-suits, the changes in them could not escape Li Congxin’s eyes.

Only through comparison could one tell who was superior.

However, Li Congxin had little interest in those particularly outstanding Spider-Men. Instead, he waved at Gwen in the crowd and called her over.

Gwen immediately stepped forward. "Mr. Clark."

Li Congxin nodded, casually tapped a finger against her masked forehead, and smiled. "Be careful, and make your own safety your top priority. If you encounter an enemy you can’t deal with, summon my divine power for help. I just strengthened that divine power a little. It won’t be enough against an enemy that’s too strong, or one you can’t defeat, but if it’s only at the level of that guy I killed earlier, it should barely suffice."

Received 999 Impression Points from Gwen Stacy!

Received … Impression Points from…

Everyone present except Gwen was filled with envy.

When they had first learned that Gwen possessed a cheat in the form of an old man accompanying her, they had already lamented that some people simply had better luck than others. Now that they had discovered this cheat could even upgrade itself automatically according to her needs, they no longer knew what to say.

Especially the several female Spider-Men. After discovering that Gwen’s accompanying cheat was not a shabby old man with a white beard, but instead a ridiculously handsome man, they had begun wondering whether they should imitate Gwen and try clinging to him as well.

Any thigh would do!

Hearing Li Congxin’s heartwarming words, Gwen said nothing and simply hugged him. Only after a long while did she reluctantly let go, quietly asking, "Why is it always the forehead?"

This girl’s focus was actually on something like that.

Li Congxin shook his head and smiled. "Nothing below the neck can be touched. That’s the decision of the supreme will beyond O-A-A. I can’t explain the details either, so you should pay more attention to the Inheritor Family. You’re the strongest fighter among all the Spider-Men now."

Gwen nodded. Reluctantly saying goodbye to Li Congxin, she activated Doc Ock-Parker’s spatial teleportation device with the other Spider-Men and left the Parallel Universe where Li Congxin was.

Tony, who had originally been worried about Little Peter, wanted to go with them as well, but Doctor Strange stopped him for roughly the same reason he had stopped Li Congxin. Before parting, however, he gave Little Peter a brand-new suit that had just been upgraded, increasing Little Peter’s chances of survival.

Watching the Spider-Men disappear into the Spatial Vortex, a playful smile appeared at the corners of Li Congxin’s mouth.

That was because, at the instant the Spatial Vortex leading to the Parallel Universe opened, he received another system notification:

Bonfire Assignment 3: Eliminate the Inheritor Family and help the Spider-Men survive the extinction crisis.

Task Reward: The energy for using the special BGM "Moving Heaven" will be fully charged.

Failure Penalty: If the task fails, the system will no longer issue Bonfire Assignments to the host!

So Bonfire Assignments were only activated when crises involving other timelines arose?

Li Congxin felt that he had already grasped some of the rules behind the Bonfire Assignments. He would wait until Gwen and the others dealt with those vampires from the Inheritor Family before studying the matter in detail.

Things indeed turned out as Strange had said. The flow of time on the two sides was different.

Several months had passed in the blink of an eye since the Spider-Men left the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Li Congxin still had not received any news that the Bonfire Assignment had been completed.

Only after communicating with the divine power residing within Gwen did he learn that they had just arrived in a Parallel Universe where a Spider-Man had become Captain Universe, and everyone was discussing the exact battle plan.

Judging by the situation, it would probably be some time before they entered the decisive battle.

As for the crisis on Earth that Strange had mentioned, there were still no signs of it. Instead, an invitation Shuri had come to extend caught Li Congxin’s interest.

T’Chaka, the aging king of the old kingdom of Wakanda, intended to pass the throne to his son, T’Challa, and had specially invited Li Congxin to attend the ceremony!