Laying the Groundwork

In the parallel world where Blonde Spider-Man lived, aboard Sanctuary.

Thanos flickered, then reappeared. The Five Great Generals below immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief. Ebony Maw asked, "Master, what just happened?"

"You definitely wouldn’t believe me if I told you."

Thanos smiled and opened his hand. Future Ant-Man fell from his palm.

Future Ant-Man was dizzy and disoriented. He instinctively returned to normal size, then removed his helmet. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Thanos’s massive face and his expression changed drastically. "Thanos!"

"You know me? Interesting."

Thanos said, "Tell me everything you know, including that device capable of taking people to other worlds."

Thanos’s gaze burned with intensity. If he mastered that device, he would be able to travel through parallel worlds.

"What parallel worlds? I have no idea what you’re talking about."

Future Ant-Man chuckled and pressed the button on his hand—he would rather be lost in the Quantum Realm than let Thanos obtain his memories.

If Thanos truly obtained his memories, the events of "Avengers: Endgame" would happen in no time—Thanos versus the Avengers.

Just as Future Ant-Man was about to press the button, his body suddenly froze beyond his control.

Immediately afterward, the cloaked Supergiant stepped forward and said, "Master, he was trying to enter the Quantum Realm."

Thanos said, "Well done. Dig out all of his memories and give them to me."

Supergiant smiled. "Easily done."

Several hours later, after obtaining Future Ant-Man’s memories, Thanos cursed furiously. "What a bunch of damned insects! They clearly lost, yet they refused to admit defeat and kept struggling on their last legs! And why don’t those people know gratitude? I wiped out half the population for the balance of the universe."

Seeing Thanos enraged, the Five Great Generals all lowered their heads. To be honest, they were filled with shock. They had never expected Thanos to truly succeed in a parallel world, much less that after succeeding, he would retire into obscurity and then have his head chopped off.

"We must stop them."

Thanos paced back and forth twice, then said, "No, don’t stop them yet."

Everyone was stunned. Why had Thanos said two completely contradictory things?

Supergiant asked thoughtfully, "Master, do you mean we shouldn’t stop them from collecting the Infinity Stones, but we should stop them from snapping their fingers?"

"Exactly. The Infinity Stones in this universe are much harder to collect than the ones in their universe. Let them gather them for me. Then, before they snap their fingers, I’ll seize the Infinity Stones."

Thanos said excitedly, "Then I can snap my fingers to wipe out that universe, return to ours, and snap my fingers again to erase half of all life and restore balance."

As he spoke, Thanos became so excited that he could barely control himself. He raised his hand, snapped his fingers, and said intoxicatedly, "I am… destiny!"

Just as Supergiant was about to speak, Thanos repeated the gesture and shouted, "I am… destiny!"

Everyone was speechless. Thanos had really gotten carried away.

Thanos truly had gotten carried away. He was incredibly excited. His long-cherished dream could finally be fulfilled, and it would not be one universe, but countless universes.

Supergiant asked, "Master, how do we get to that universe? This Ant-Man does not know how to build a Super Collider."

"It doesn’t matter. We can wait for people from that universe to come here."

Thanos said, "Supergiant, attach yourself to Future Ant-Man. Once they arrive, join up with them. Then we’ll strike from within and without and destroy that universe."

Everyone’s eyes lit up. It was indeed a good plan. Supergiant nodded, then reminded him, "Master, according to that Ant-Man’s memories, the guardian called Blood God is extremely powerful."

"He is powerful, but so am I. Besides, Blood God is very lazy and almost never gets involved. We can seize the Infinity Gauntlet before he makes a move. At that point, no matter how powerful he is, one snap will be enough."

Thanos said confidently. Future Ant-Man had never seen Wang Bert fight and did not know how powerful he truly was, which affected Thanos’s judgment.

Thanos said, "Make preparations. Destiny is about to arrive. Also, find a way to replicate the Pym Particles on this fellow. They’re very useful."

All his subordinates nodded. "Yes, great Master!"

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Life Foundation’s headquarters and underground base had been completely taken over by S.W.O.R.D.

"Mr. Tony, isn’t the Super Collider fixed yet? If I don’t go back soon, my parents and uncle are probably going to lose their minds."

Dressed in hip-hop fashion and wearing headphones, Little Black Spider Miles pestered Tony. Tony said helplessly, "Soon, soon. It’ll be even faster if you stop rushing me."

That’s what you said last time.

Miles secretly curled his lips. At that moment, Middle-aged Spider-Man shouted, "Miles, it’s time for training. Get over here."

Miles had only just become Spider-Man and could not yet control his abilities. Seeing this, the other Spider-Men all rushed over to become his teachers. Too many of them wanted the job and they nearly came to blows. In the end, they decided each person would teach him for one day.

This Spider-Man, Miles, was exceptionally powerful. Not only did he possess the abilities of other Spider-Men, he could also generate electricity and turn invisible—while under control, he had been able to use those abilities with ease, but after returning to normal, he could not use them at all.

Seeing that today’s teacher was Middle-aged Spider-Man, Miles could not help sighing. That guy was not only lazy and utterly lacking as a teacher, but more importantly, he was incredibly lame—earlier, Blonde Spider-Man and Peter had teamed up to beat him up, and it had been as miserable as could be.

Seeing Miles sigh, Middle-aged Spider-Man flew into a rage. "You think I want to teach you? I’m only doing it because I’m stuck here with nothing else to do! The Super Heroes of this world are such jerks. They actually won’t let us leave."

"That’s normal. If so many Spider-Men went out together, it would definitely cause a huge sensation."

Miles jumped forward, but because his shoelaces were untied, he crashed to the ground with a bang.

Middle-aged Spider-Man said irritably, "How many times have I told you to tie your shoelaces? Also, Spider-Men generally don’t wear shoes."

"Got it, got it."

Miles climbed to his feet awkwardly. Blonde Spider-Man, who was repairing the ceiling overhead, turned and said, "Miles, hang in there a few more days. Once the Super Collider is fixed, Tony and the others will send us home immediately."

"The sooner, the better. Our world can’t do without Spider-Man."

A Spider-Man shouted—most of the Spider-Men were helping out, and their ability to cling to the ceiling was extremely useful.

"Shut up and focus on your work. If it weren’t for Blood God’s orders, I’d have killed you damned chatterboxes long ago."

Dr. Octopus cursed. What was more terrifying than one chatterbox? A whole pack of chatterboxes.

Honestly, if her mental resilience had been any weaker, Dr. Octopus would probably have gone insane already. There were simply too many Spider-Men, which was why everyone else had gradually stopped coming here.

A group of Spider-Men, a group of bored-out-of-their-minds Spider-Men, a group of bored Spider-Men constantly looking for people to talk to—just thinking about it was terrifying.

"Who was it that brought us here in the first place? And you still have the nerve to complain?"

Spider-Gwen retorted. Spider-Ham cursed even more directly, "Why do we have to take orders from a female villain? What kind of nonsense is this?"

The Spider-Men all nodded. Dr. Octopus sneered. "Because I’ve gone legit, got a problem with that? I’m now a scientist for Osborn Corporation. In the future, I’ll make big money, live in a mansion, drive luxury cars, and keep handsome men. You pathetic Spider-Men can keep delivering pizzas.

"Oh, Peter, where’s the pizza I ordered? It’s due in one minute. If you don’t deliver it soon, believe me, I’ll give you a bad review and make you work for nothing today."

"Dr. Octopus, please don’t give me a bad review. I just went to catch a thief. I’ll be there right away."

Peter hurriedly shouted. He had not returned to New York. Instead, he was fighting crime in San Francisco while delivering pizzas to earn money.

Dr. Octopus cursed arrogantly, "That kind of work attitude won’t cut it these days. No wonder you Spider-Men are all poor."

The Spider-Men gritted their teeth in anger. So what if they were poor? What did that have to do with her? Not every Spider-Man was poor, but at least ninety percent of them were, which was perfectly understandable. Spider-Man usually came from a poor family, had no inheritance to rely on, and spent every day saving people on the streets with no time for part-time work. How could he possibly not be poor under those circumstances?

More importantly, Spider-Men were all exceptionally moral and never used their superpowers to acquire wealth.

Miles blinked. Would he become poor in the future too? Being Spider-Man did not seem to have much of a financial future.

"Damn it, did we win or did she win? Why does it feel like we’re the losers?"

Middle-aged Spider-Man could not help complaining. The other Spider-Men deeply agreed. Why had Dr. Octopus become their boss after being defeated? And why did it sound like she was about to reach the pinnacle of life?

"Because you’re all a bunch of losers to begin with. Stop talking and get to work. I adjusted some details, so I guarantee I’ll send you perfectly back to your original worlds."

Dr. Octopus cursed—she was so arrogant because she knew Blood God would never easily abandon a super-genius pawn like her.

With Blood God protecting her, her wonderful life was only just beginning. Compared to Blood God, Kingpin was nothing.

The Spider-Men cursed unhappily but obediently returned to work. Tony sighed inwardly at the sight. No matter which world they came from, Spider-Men were all equally kind. If it had been anyone else, they would have already rushed over and ganged up on Dr. Octopus.

"Miles, today’s training is to keep yourself from falling off the ceiling. Start by holding on for an hour."

Middle-aged Spider-Man said lazily as he ate fried chicken and drank cola. Tony rolled his eyes. This greasy Spider-Man was the exception.

"Pizza delivery."

Three minutes later, Peter rushed in through the entrance. Dr. Octopus gave him a bad review right in front of him, and Peter seemed to turn black and white all over. He had worked for nothing today.

At S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, Wang Bert led Eddie’s ex-girlfriend, Annie Wei Ying, into the research base. Wei Ying asked in surprise, "Mr. Wang, can I enter a place like this too?"

"With me bringing you in, of course you can. Osborn Corporation is one of S.W.O.R.D.’s main sponsors."

Wang Bert smiled. "You’re interested in Super Heroes, so I brought you here to broaden your horizons. Don’t worry, we won’t get into anything too confidential. Oh, and don’t leave my side, or you might get arrested."

"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Wang."

Wei Ying nodded excitedly. She had been curious about S.W.O.R.D. for a long time.

Thinking of something, Wei Ying glanced at Wang Bert. According to the information she had found, Mr. Wang was the chairman of Osborn Corporation and also owned a major Hollywood film company. Many models and actresses wanted to date him.

Furthermore, like Tony Stark in the past, he changed women more frequently than he changed clothes. However, he was more low-key than Tony Stark, and not a single newspaper or magazine had any news about him.

Could he be interested in me? Then should I say yes, or should I say yes?

Wei Ying thought to herself. Leaving aside Wang Bert’s Money Power, his looks and temperament alone meant Wei Ying would not mind spending a night with him. She did not have a boyfriend now, and as long as everyone had fun, that was enough.

"Last month, an alien force called the symbiotes attempted to invade Earth."

Wang Bert stopped outside a laboratory and said, "In the end, their evil plan was stopped by S.W.O.R.D., which also captured a large number of symbiotes."

"Aliens invaded? Why wasn’t there any news coverage?"

Wei Ying looked through the glass into the laboratory in surprise. Inside were many containers holding strange liquids that struggled constantly, looking both ugly and disgusting.

Disgusted yet curious, Wei Ying asked, "Those are the aliens? How do they fight?"

"Symbiotes, as the name implies, need to fuse with humans to have combat power."

Wang Bert gestured for Wei Ying to follow him. Then he pointed at the strange suits in the second laboratory and said, "These are special combat suits made using symbiotes. They can greatly enhance the wearer’s strength, but the burden is enormous, so they cannot be used for prolonged combat."

Wei Ying was dumbfounded. "You wear aliens as combat suits? Isn’t that too dangerous?"

"No, it isn’t dangerous at all. The symbiotes’ consciousnesses have all been erased. Besides being worn, symbiotes can also be fused with people."

Wang Bert smiled. "Compared to the former, the latter grants several times more power and also gives the user regenerative abilities. However, both sides must be fairly compatible to fuse, so the requirements are very strict."

"S.W.O.R.D.’s research is truly eye-opening."

Wei Ying could not help sighing. Then she saw an incomparably ugly model of Venom ahead and asked in surprise, "Mr. Wang, what is that?"

Wang Bert said, "That is Venom. After fusing with a symbiote, you become like that. But you can change back. It’s essentially a transformation."

Wei Ying said with a disgusted expression, "No offense, but that’s way too ugly, isn’t it?"

Wang Bert asked with a smile, "It is a little ugly, but fusing with a symbiote lets you become a Super Hero. Are you interested?"

"This…"

Wei Ying hesitated. Looking at Venom’s model, she shuddered and shook her head. "I can’t accept it. It’s too ugly. That appearance would give me nightmares at night."

"The appearance can be modified. That isn’t a problem."

Wang Bert smiled and beckoned. "Come this way. I have something good to show you."

Wei Ying followed him and found a recovery room ahead. A man dressed in white lay inside, surrounded by numerous instruments.

"Eddie?"

Seeing the figure who looked so much like a loser, Wei Ying was stunned. Why was Eddie here? And why had Mr. Wang brought her to see Eddie? Wang Bert did not answer her questions. He opened the door and walked in, saying, "Eddie, we meet again."