In the Marvel Multiverse, the surname Parker isn't something just anyone can have.
Even though there are many Spider-Men, not all of them are Parkers.
Take Gwen, Cindy, and the others for example.
Likewise, across the multiverse, there are countless versions of Peter Parker.
They may look different—first generation, second, third, and so on. Their appearances change, but one thing never does.
They are always tied to the Parker family.
Exactly.
If someone is Spider-Man and bears the name Parker, then there will always be a family like Aunt May behind them.
That's part of Marvel's established lore.
So no matter the universe, as long as the surname is Parker, they are inevitably connected to the Parker family.
That was why Lorien was so surprised.
Her last name was Parker!
Lorien thought for a moment. Did the Parker family have a female Spider?
It seemed… yes!
And not just one—there were many!
But he couldn't recall them clearly.
With so many Marvel comics, it was impossible to remember them all.
There were far too many Spider-Men to keep track of.
The ones that left the strongest impression on him were Gwen Stacy and the original Peter Parker.
As for the others, his memory was faint.
Venomized Spider-Man, some kind of Loli Spider-Man…He only knew their titles. He didn't know their actual names or backstories.
So when Mayday Parker suddenly appeared, Lorien had no idea about her background or origins.
All he knew was that she had ties to the original Spider-Man.
...
By now, Wanda had noticed Lorien's thoughtful silence.
She reached out, took his hand, and asked,
"What's wrong?"
Lorien looked at her.
"The mainstream Spider-Men across the multiverse… they all have the surname Parker."
"Hm?"
At first, Wanda didn't quite understand.
But Silk did instantly.
Her eyes widened as she glanced from Lorien to Mayday Parker sitting beside Gwen.
The meaning was obvious: She's a Spider-Woman?
Only then did Wanda catch on, following Silk's gaze toward Mayday Parker.
Gwen had heard everything too, though she masked it well, showing nothing on her face.
Still, she couldn't help sneaking glances at Lorien.
She was curious now—was the girl speaking to her really a Spider-Woman?
But Mayday noticed her stare.
She turned back with a puzzled look.
"What are you looking at?"
Her gaze swept over Lorien and the others.
Her brow furrowed slightly, then quickly relaxed.
Honestly, her instincts told her something about this situation was off. But her senses told her there was nothing there at all.
After a brief pause, Mayday turned her head back.
And Gwen spoke up.
"Nothing much. Hey, Mayday Parker, where are you from? I'm from Manhattan."
Hearing the question about where she lived, Mayday stiffened slightly but still replied.
"Uh… I live in Queens."
Got it.
Last name Parker, lives in Queens.
Buffs stacked to the max.
Lorien glanced at Gwen. Then, with a slight twitch of his finger, the Phoenix Force slipped into Mayday Parker's body to take a look.
"Hmm~"
Mayday let out a faint nasal sound.
No one else noticed.
But Gwen did.
She knew Lorien was examining her, so she quickly cut in.
"What's wrong?"
"Hmm… nothing." Mayday smiled lightly. "Just suddenly felt like stretching."
She made a show of it, raising her arms in a deliberate stretch.
By then, Lorien had already withdrawn his energy.
Gwen continued.
"So, do you like Spider-Woman?"
"Yeah… I do." Mayday nodded.
"I like them too. They've been all over the news lately—everyone's talking about them."
"Them?" Mayday frowned in confusion.
In English, "she" and "they" were completely different words.
Gwen looked puzzled too.
"You didn't know? There are two Spider-Women in New York now."
"Two!?"
The moment she heard that, Mayday froze. Her heart lurched in shock.
She was already an outsider—so why would this world have two Spider-Women?
"Yeah." Gwen said knowingly. "Haven't you seen the news?"
"Uh… sorry." Mayday hesitated. "I've only been following the past few days."
Just then, the girl sitting in front of them turned around to join in.
"You like Spider-Woman too? Me too!"
Gwen and Mayday both froze.
Gwen asked her,
"Which one do you like?"
"Both of them, of course!" the girl said matter-of-factly. "Didn't you notice their suits all share the same emblem?"
"Even if the designs are different, they all have a spider symbol on the chest. They must be part of the same team—the Spider Alliance!"
At that, not only Gwen, but even Silk in the back was startled.
This girl was such a hardcore Spider-Woman fan.
But she probably didn't realize—right in front of her sat three Spider-Women.
The girl's words seemed to open the floodgates, and the conversation quickly became lively.
Meanwhile, Lorien gave Wanda and Silk a nod.
Hela caught it too.
The three of them instantly understood.
Mayday really was Spider-Woman.
Up front, Gwen noticed Lorien's gesture as well. She pressed her lips together, then studied Mayday carefully.
That kind of gesture… it was way too intentional.
Mayday noticed her stare and asked.
"What is it?"
Gwen met her eyes for a moment, then smiled.
"You're quite beautiful."
"!" Mayday froze, then smiled back.
"You too."
The girl beside them, who had been chatting along, blinked in surprise.
She muttered under her breath.
"They're complimenting each other… why not me?"
"You're beautiful too," Gwen and Mayday said at the same time.
The girl beamed.
"Everyone's beautiful! Everyone's beautiful!"
...
The sightseeing bus continued on as the instructor gave his introduction, circling around the campus for nearly two hours.
At last, after his final briefing, the instructor led them off the bus and announced,
"Alright, that concludes the tour of New York University. Next, just head to the professional schools you registered for."
"If you need housing or have any other questions, you'll find guidance at your respective schools. I'll be off now."
With that, he left.
Only then did the students realize—he had basically been moonlighting as their tour guide.
They soon returned to the center of campus, where a massive stone monument stood with the university's emblem engraved upon it.
The emblem was striking—entirely purple, with a torch at its center, and nothing else.
So simple it didn't even look like a school emblem. It looked more like the logo of a luxury brand or a car company.
After the instructor left, Mayday waved to Gwen.
"Gwen, want to head over together? I'm going to register at my college."
"You go first." Gwen waved back. "I'll come by later."
"Alright, I'll head off then. Bye!"
"Bye."
Watching Mayday leave, Gwen walked over to join Lorien and the others.
Silk glanced at Mayday's retreating figure with a hint of surprise.
Gwen's words snapped Silk back to her senses.
"Yeah, that's how it should be."
Gwen was right. You couldn't just take in every Spider-Man and assume they were all good people. They had to be sure first.
Besides, she was already here. It's not like she could just run off, right?
Lorien nodded.
"Gwen's right. You've got plenty of time to get to know her. There's no need to rush."
Silk nodded, glancing at Gwen.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Gwen gave an OK sign.
"Relax. I'll head out first. You all can go back. Once I'm done with the freshman assembly, I'll return."
"Alright, go on."
With that, Gwen waved and left.
As they watched her go, Wanda sighed.
"In less than a month, our universe already has three Spider-Women. Won't the third floor be too cramped soon?"
Seriously? You're already worrying about whether the place is big enough?
Lorien had set up a house with ten rooms. Just how many Spider-Women would it take to run out of space?
Now there were already three spiders in the same frame.
If more kept showing up, wouldn't they end up with ten, even eighteen spiders crammed together?
"We'll see. We can always expand."
Lorien didn't mind. Out of 2,500 square meters, they'd only used 1,000 so far. Adding another 1,000 wouldn't be a problem.
But with so much empty space, it made more sense to expand only when they had more people living there.
"Come on, let's head back."
"Mm."
After dropping Gwen off at school, Lorien snapped his fingers.
"Snap~"
In the next moment, everyone vanished from the spot and reappeared at home.
They chatted for a while, sipping on drinks. By then, it was already noon.
Silk stood up, ready to head out and fight crime.
Lorien took a sip of his milk tea and teased.
"It's so hot at noon that even criminals don't feel like committing crimes. Just stay here for lunch, then head out when Gwen gets back this afternoon."
Since this was Lorien's request—Gwen's "direct superior"—Silk could only give a soft hum of agreement.
But after lunch, she still went back. She wanted to train. With all that top-tier equipment in the fourth-floor gym, she couldn't just let it go to waste.
So, carrying a bottle of milk tea from lunch, she went downstairs to work out.
After Silk left, Wanda went off to practice her spells as usual.
Lorien flopped onto the couch, half-lazing while watching Hela play her game.
He glanced at her screen.
"Zelda? Aren't you usually into hack-and-slash games?"
"I've already played through most of them. There's almost nothing left, so I figured I'd change it up."
The controller clicked rapidly in Hela's hands.
"Games release way too slowly. At the rate I play, I'll run out of the ones I like soon. What am I supposed to do then?"
She had a point. The deeper you went, the fewer games matched your taste.
Lorien knew this feeling all too well.
When he first arrived in Marvel, he'd spent two years grinding games nonstop whenever he had free time. But eventually, he ran out. That was how he ended up quitting by default.
Sigh~
He let out a quiet sigh.
He couldn't stand the thought of Hela, a true gamer, being stuck without anything to play, still stubbornly clinging to games.
So he suggested,
"You should try PC games, Hela. A lot of them are online, with way higher replay value. Not like consoles, where once you finish, you don't feel like picking it up again."
Hela froze.
"PC… what kind of games are those?"
"?"
That question completely blindsided Lorien.
"You've been gaming this long and don't know?"
"I don't."
"....."
Alright, that was on him.
He'd given Hela a console and controllers, but never a PC.
And she never went out. Never interacted with people.
So of course she never thought of trying other kinds of games. She just kept hammering away at her console without caring about anything else.
"Okay, my fault."
Lorien sighed, then led Hela down to the office computer.
"Here, play. I'll show you—PC games are where the real variety is."
"AAA titles? Elden Ring, Sekiro, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed, and plenty more.
Online games? LoL, GTA V, World of Warcraft, you name it.
ARPG, FPS, MMORPG, RTS—whatever you want. I'll get you on Steam, then you can explore yourself."
He opened Steam and let Hela choose.
Thankfully, he didn't open WeGame.
The moment Steam launched, a dazzling lineup of games filled the screen.
"Wow~!"
No way console games could compare to this. PC's selection was on another level.
After Lorien explained the basics of the keyboard and mouse, Hela dove right in.
A gaming prodigy like her picked things up fast.
Lorien wasn't worried. She wasn't the type to be both terrible and obsessed. She was smart—even when it came to gaming.
After leaving her in the office, he headed back.
But just as he stepped out the door, his phone buzzed.
He checked the screen.
[Tony Stark: Long time no see, Lorien. Any visitors right now?]
[Lorien Su: None.]
[Tony Stark: Don't be so cold. Look at your office door.]
Look at the office door?
What, Tony was here?
Lorien waited, but Tony didn't show up.
He typed a question mark and sent it.
[Lorien Su: ?]
[Tony: Damn it, why me? Hold on, I'll be there.]
Lorien waited a little longer.
Still no Tony.
"?"
What was he doing, taking a dump?
Just as Lorien was about to fire off a snarky reply—
"Ding~"
The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open.
Out stepped Tony, in robes, lips twitching under a pair of sunglasses, alongside Stephen, also dressed in robes.
Stephen smiled when he saw Lorien.
"Long time no see, Lorien."
"Long time no see," Lorien nodded.
But his gaze lingered curiously on Tony.
Then he turned to Stephen.
"What's up with him? Did wearing robes get him mistaken for a clown?"
At that, Tony's lips weren't the only thing twitching—his sunglasses nearly cracked under the strain.
"Sigh..."
He let out a heavy, defeated sigh.
Stephen glanced at him with a chuckle.
"Tony learned teleportation last night. He planned to teleport straight here today and even put on his robes for the occasion.
But for some reason, teleportation doesn't work inside this building. He ended up teleporting downstairs instead, and then…"
Stephen gestured toward the elevator.
The meaning was clear—they had to ride it up.
Lorien almost burst out laughing.
Tony pulled off his sunglasses, looking utterly dejected.
"Isn't the spell supposed to let me teleport anywhere I've seen before? Why can't I teleport inside this building?"
Lorien chuckled, glancing at Stephen, who was barely holding back his own laughter. Then he turned back to Tony with a helpless smile.
"Don't you know? If someone stronger than you—a sorcerer or ability user who controls space—doesn't allow it, the space itself will reject your teleportation."