Unlike his confused expression when he first arrived, Peter was now carefully studying the surroundings of the Quantum Tunnel on the way back.
It was huge, filled with color, and on both sides of the passage countless images appeared. Some were familiar to him, some were not, but without question, all of them were connected to Peter Parker.
At least, that was how it looked from his perspective.
As for whether Gwen saw the same thing from hers, he had no idea.
The one that caught his eye the most was a scene from a world that definitely had not appeared in any animated series or movie. It might have shown up in the comics, but this version clearly came from the game universe of Marvel's Spider-Man, Earth-1048.
That was right.
It was another version of himself.
The suit kept the classic color layout but added extra accent colors, and the spider emblem on the chest extended all the way down toward the abdomen. It was stylish, sharp, and carried a hint of wildness.
Honestly, that was the suit he wanted most.
It did not seem to have any especially flashy special functions, but it looked way too sleek and good on the body. More importantly, the suit was called the Advanced Suit 2.0. Just hearing the name made it sound like an upgraded version in every possible stat.
Its defense was even slightly better than his Dark Suit, and the most important part was that it used nanotechnology. With a light tap on the watch, nanotech particles would spread out, and in the blink of an eye, the entire suit would cover his body.
Was that not way better than struggling to put on a suit the old-fashioned way and then having to wash it afterward?
"Peter, look over there. That scene looks like our universe. Do you know that spider woman? The one wearing a mask but not a full hood..."
Gwen pointed at a distant image. In it was a woman wearing a black-and-white spider-patterned suit, with a very striking figure, but she happened to be beating him up.
Peter followed her finger and confirmed that it really was Earth-65.
But the content of the image was completely different from what Gwen was describing.
In what he saw, he had turned into the Lizard and died in Gwen's arms.
If he had never become Spider-Man, if the system had never appeared, if he had never become Peter, maybe that really would have been the fate of this world.
Of course, there was another possibility.
Everyone knew that the same universe could branch into countless alternate timelines. To distinguish them, you could label them A, B, C, and so on.
If his universe was Earth-65A, then the scene he was seeing might be from Earth-65B.
"Looks like we're not seeing exactly the same images. Can you describe it more carefully?"
"It's a black-haired woman wearing a mask with red stripes. Her limbs are covered in black, and only the center part of the suit is white with web patterns..."
As Gwen described the woman in the image, Peter quickly figured out who she was supposed to be.
Cindy Moon.
If things followed the main universe's storyline, Cindy Moon was the second person bitten by the spider after Peter became Spider-Man.
She had the same perfect adhesion abilities, extremely sharp senses, and even greater speed and agility than Spider-Man, though her strength was much lower.
She was also one of Peter's ambiguous love interests in the main universe.
She had another codename.
Silk.
But in Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider's Earth-65 comics, she was a villain who forcibly stole Gwen's spider powers. If not for a calibration serum from Jessica, the original Spider-Woman, that temporarily restored Gwen's powers, the world might have been destroyed by that lunatic.
"The one you're talking about should be Cindy Moon. She's a complete psycho. What you saw might be a glimpse of the future. Gwen, if you ever run into her, contact me immediately. Or just kill her on sight. Otherwise, you're the one who's going to suffer later."
For the first time, Gwen completely agreed with Peter's words.
The version of herself in that image had been beaten far too badly, and watching that near-deranged woman crush her so completely left Gwen, as the person involved, deeply uncomfortable.
"So... maybe that really is the future?"
"Who knows. It could also just be another timeline. But being careful never hurts, right?"
As he said that, Peter kept looking at the image of himself as the Lizard. It was a truly miserable sight. Fortunately, he was not the sort of person to stay gloomy for long. Otherwise, he would have died from frustration ages ago.
The black hole at the end of the tunnel was now right in front of them, growing brighter and brighter. Through it, they could already see the scene outside.
There were two exits.
One led to Gwen's bedroom.
The other led to Peter's.
That said, no matter what universe she was from, Gwen clearly liked leaving her stuff everywhere. And she was self-absorbed enough to cover her room in posters of herself. Posters of her band winning competitions, photos of her dancing, snapshots of Ghost-Spider swinging on webs, all plastered across the room.
Compared to that, Peter's bedroom was much more ordinary.
On the desk were either research tools or two photographs. One was a family photo with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. The other was a picture of him with Gwen, except there was someone making a stupid face in the background.
Yes, it was Harry.
And the one who had taken that photo back then was MJ, one of the main members of Gwen's band.
"All right, now I can finally relax and get some rest. I'm heading off first. See you later, Peter."
With one leap, Gwen jumped into the Quantum Black Hole leading to her room, and the black hole rapidly shrank until it disappeared.
Peter did not hesitate either and dove straight into his own room.
A flash of light passed.
Then, in the calm space above his bed, a black hole suddenly opened, and Peter dropped right onto the mattress.
It was already broad daylight.
But the digital clock on the desk showed that only a little over ten hours had passed, which Peter found pretty interesting. It seemed the flow of time between worlds was not the same. Of course, that might also have been caused by the Quantum Black Hole itself.
"Peter, come eat breakfast. Why are you sleeping in today?"
"I'm a little tired. Coming!"
Uncle Ben's voice sounded from outside the door. Peter quickly changed into more comfortable clothes, then pulled one of his spare Spider Suits from the closet and stuffed it into his backpack before heading downstairs.
Ugh.
His sleep schedule was completely ruined.
He was exhausted enough to die, yet it was broad daylight outside. He was definitely going to have to catch up on sleep at school.
He had originally planned to have Harry cover for him, but now that was obviously unnecessary. Better to wash up, eat breakfast, and get ready for school.
"Looks like my Peter is really exhausted. You slept so long, and you still look completely drained."
Aunt May smiled and teased him as she looked at his constant yawning.
Come on.
He had not slept in dozens of hours, and all that fighting had been exhausting.
"I was reviewing too hard the last few days, so I ended up staying up really late yesterday. I'll recover in a couple of days... haah..."
After yawning again, Peter took out his phone, found a contact, typed a message, and sent it.
Help. I'm dying of sleep. My body clock is completely wrecked.
Less than ten seconds later, his phone vibrated. When he opened it, the reply from a girl with a bright profile picture popped up.
Me too...
[Ding. Congratulations, Host, on successfully resolving the parallel universe crisis. Reward: 800 Skin Points, one Level 5 Chest, and 1/5 of Peak Tobey Spider-Man's abilities!]
[Ding. Due to the Host mercilessly slaughtering villains with an iron hand, you have obtained a special skill: Soul Shock!]
[Soul Shock: Can inflict mental damage on an enemy, intimidate the target, and cause temporary loss of movement. Power depends on the gap between the Host and the target. The stronger the ability, the shorter the intimidation cooldown...]
[You currently have two Level 5 Chests stored. Open them?]
"Open them..."
[Ding. Opening chests...]
[Congratulations, Host. You obtained: One Death Substitute, One Time Rewind, Limited Edition Spider-Man Figure, Antihero Class Change Article, Special Skill: The End!]
Looking at the rewards listed on the system panel, Peter showed a mix of surprise and curiosity.
They all sounded ridiculously overpowered.
But what exactly were these things supposed to be?
(End of Chapter)
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