Peter walked toward Madame Web, Julia Carpenter. As he reached her side, he spoke listlessly, "I am not entirely sure if you know what my life looks like, ma'am, but I just saved the world yesterday..."
"Yesterday's tremors across the Web of Destiny were so immense that the entire world felt it. It wasn't just me; I am afraid anyone capable of directly connecting to the Web of Destiny could perceive it." Julia Carpenter let out a helpless sigh. "But I didn't come to chat with you about that. I came to talk to you about Cindy Moon."
"So... there is a problem with Cindy's illness?"
Julia shook her head. "There is nothing wrong with her illness itself. There is a problem with the cause of her illness."
What kind of logic was that? How could the illness be fine if the cause had a problem? Peter looked at Madame Web with utter incomprehension, while the latter simply smiled. "Shall we find another place to talk? After all, as you can see, you have a rather unfriendly friend standing right over there."
Peter glanced over at Nick Fury, then let out a somewhat helpless sigh. "As far as I'm concerned, if he truly intends to eavesdrop, it won't make a difference no matter where we go."
"There is still a bit of a difference. At least finding a cafe down the street won't be as tiring, and it will be a bit more convenient to talk. Let's go."
Thus, Peter followed Madame Web and departed. Nick Fury merely watched them leave before turning back to mind his own business, scrolling through his phone.
A few minutes later, Peter and Madame Web were sitting inside a sidewalk cafe. Each ordered a cup of coffee, after which Madame Web began to explain, "The reason Cindy Moon fell ill lies in the fact that she herself is a very unique Spider-Totem. The role of the 'Bride' is to weave hidden threads, enabling Spider-Totems to manifest through coincidence, sorcery, curses, or unfortunate strokes of luck."
"In other words, when the Spider-Totems originally belonging to this category vanish on a massive scale, or fail to be born according to schedule, things can go wrong with her body."
Having finished speaking, Julia Carpenter looked at a thoroughly bewildered Peter. Snapping back to his senses, Peter questioned in disbelief, "There is actually such a thing? How come I didn't know?"
He truly had no idea that these unique Spider-Totems carried any significance other than their names. Back when he looked through the entire Spider-Verse, there didn't seem to be any manifestation of this. Seeing this reaction, Julia Carpenter let out a helpless sigh. "Then what did you think the 'Bride' was? A wife assigned to you by the Web of Destiny?"
Peter blanked out for a moment, then frowned. "But I didn't sense any reaction from the Web of Destiny. The Web of Destiny didn't demand that I go anywhere."
"Therefore, the probability points toward the latter scenario. In certain parallel universes, someone is preventing the birth of Spider-Totems, and specifically targeting the birth of those on the magical side. This point is very important, and highly critical."
Madame Web looked at Peter with a grave expression. "Because this entity begins acting before everything takes place—for instance, moving a magical spider away before it can bite a Peter Parker, or performing similar actions—the Web of Destiny will not provide any feedback. Only the 'Bride' will react. But this does not mean the situation isn't severe. If someone can eliminate the Spider-Totems created through coincidence, sorcery, and curses, then the entire magical system that relies upon the Web of Destiny might completely fail."
Peter suddenly thought of someone, namely the Sorcerer Supreme Spider-Man among the Spider-Gods. However, on second thought, that person didn't seem to have any reason to do this. He shook his head. "So what now? We don't even know where things have gone wrong. How do we investigate? I could contact the members of the Spider-Society and have them keep an eye out..."
"The focus is not there, Peter Parker. The focus is on you."
Peter blanked out again, then pointed at himself. "Me?"
"Yes, you. You are the Scion, but that does not mean your connection to the Web of Destiny and the Spider-Totems can never be severed. Someone has tried that before, haven't they?"
Peter remembered. Back then, Otto had utilized a reversal serum to strip him of his spider abilities, though the severance hadn't been absolute. Later on, he had used the Erskine serum for reinforcement, which allowed Peter to fully integrate all of his spider DNA and further elevate his strength—enabling him to completely overpower all four members of the Wrecking Crew by himself previously.
"Your connection to the Web of Destiny stems from two domains. On one hand, there is the genetic aspect, the mutagenic spiders—regardless of how many there were, these granted you a connection to the Web of Destiny. Aside from that, you have acquired another form of connection, which is magic. Through magic, you can channel the power of the Web of Destiny, deeply binding you to it as well."
Originally, even if the former temporarily lost its connection to the Web of Destiny due to certain reasons, Peter could still utilize magic to link back up. However, the current situation left Madame Web deeply concerned. If by any chance both scenarios occurred simultaneously, wouldn't that mean the totem serving as the "Scion" would vanish?
How could they afford to lose such an excellent worker—ahem, such an outstanding Scion—just like that?
Peter finally understood completely by this point. Madame Web hadn't actually dumped some urgent task onto him; rather, she meant that he needed to find a new source of connection to the Web of Destiny. This would ensure that he remained a Spider-Totem even if the networks for both the magical and mutagenic pathways were completely cut off.
Regarding this, Peter... didn't particularly care.
If a day truly came where he simultaneously lost his abilities from both the magical and mutagenic directions, setting aside the fact that he still had the symbiote and the nano-suit to let him continue operating as Spider-Man, encountering such a scenario would mean he was facing a catastrophic crisis of the life-and-death variety. Would he truly have the leisure to worry about the multiverse at a time like that?
But looking at it from another perspective, if he truly ran into that kind of crisis one day, then perhaps... he did indeed require some new power to reinforce himself.
Peter thus stroked his chin and looked toward Madame Web. "So, do you have any good suggestions, Madame Web?"
"I don't know," Madame Web replied with her usual riddles. "But I know you already have the answer."
Huh? He had the answer? Where did he have the answer?
Peter found himself at a complete loss for a moment, beginning to reflect on what kind of spider power he had encountered that was neither magical nor mutagenic. Finally, it clicked, and he suddenly recollected that while dealing with the Hand, Iron Fist had mentioned to him that he was highly suited for cultivating the power of the Immortal Weapons and Qi.
And he remembered that among the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, with K'un-Lun at the helm, there existed exactly such a kingdom of spiders.
-----------------------------------------------
I handpick only the finest and most captivating novels for you. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon HongMengZi