Chapter 605: Peter·Parker

"Because the famous Marvel check-in spot failed and the MAN hasn't collected his stamps yet, so I came personally."

Su Lin was slightly surprised and asked, "I'm the temporary driver for the Stark Children's Foundation; which one of you is Peter Parker?"

The long sword flew from his hand and began spinning at high speed; starlight fragments converged into the blade's radiance, and in the blink of an eye, it shot out like a torrential downpour.

As an excellent professional player, Su Lin's damage prediction was unmatched in the entire server; taking this move at close range, not even these three mutated Spider-Men—even if the Toei version of Spider-Man's 400-year-old grandma showed up—would have anything left but to go home and soak in a hot spring.

Unexpected.

The room was littered with burn and explosion marks; the Spider-Men, their bodies torn apart by sword qi, felt no pain and had no concept of death, continuing to lunge toward the young Peter.

"I'm Peter. Do you want an autograph?"

"You don't have eyes? No problem—I'll give you a pair, since spiders have compound eyes."

"Even with only five hands, I'm still the eternal god!"

Su Lin's brow twitched—these things weren't even material entities?

"This damn loquacious trait—fine, looks like you're Peter·Parker."

Su Lin grabbed the collar of the boy Peter and yanked him aside, narrowly avoiding the Venom Spider-Man's attack.

They completely ignored Su Lin's attacks, shifting between shadows and weaving grotesque silhouettes midair, mechanically repeating their previous motions as if by instinct.

"Not alive. More like an information entity."

Su Lin's interest sparked; a brilliant sphere of light flared in his hand, illuminating all things under heaven: "Fusheng Xuanhuang Shangdi."

The sky stretched vast, winds surged like tides, thunder and rain poured down; a radiant figure cloaked in glory cast its luminous scene over the land, as if the surface of a wondrous realm composed of countless open or closed books, with tiny copper-hued glimmers darting swiftly, tracing one mysterious symbol after another.

The torrent of information, the authority of the Bai Ta Path, the godly power of knowledge and wisdom, swallowed everything around.

With his mastery over his own Immortal Dao path, Su Lin could now fully utilize the traits and strengths of his Nascent Soul.

"Well, not even an information entity."

The three mutated Spider-Men remained utterly unaffected, darting through countless rays of radiance.

Su Lin moved effortlessly among the three mutated Spider-Men, carrying young Peter Parker like a fragrant, delicious pastry, luring them in.

"Peter, if you don't come over, I'm going to get angry," Aunt May said, holding a tray.

"I'll be right there," the three mutated Spider-Men and the boy Peter replied simultaneously.

Su Lin paused, turned the boy Peter around to face him, and said:

"You're into abstract stuff too."

Then he spun Peter Parker around and set him on the ground, bestowed a blessing, and began remote control: up, down, left, right, B, A, B, A.

"Please, sir, help me! AAAAAA—!"

Peter Parker was nearly in tears; he watched the three monsters chasing him frantically behind, while his body remained uncontrollable, blood rushing to his head.

"Speed, burst power, physical condition—all identical to the original Spider-Man."

Su Lin glanced toward Aunt May and Uncle Ben Parker, suddenly feeling he'd seen something similar before.

"But they lack self-awareness."

Outside the Marvel border wall.

Abyssal ruins.

These things weren't as unsettling as the entities within the Abyss; they seemed slightly better, retaining some human-like responses.

Thinking for a moment, Su Lin's gaze passed through the room toward the ruined New York City beyond the door.

"Please save me!" Peter Parker cried.

Su Lin withdrew his gaze and pulled him over through the air.

Before Peter Parker could feel any sense of safety, the man made a throwing motion.

"Wait"

Whoosh—the boy Peter arced gracefully through the air and landed on the street outside the door, his eyes vacant, staring into the room, as if plunged into emptiness and despair.

The three mutated Spider-Men simultaneously spat webs to stick him, then lunged forward together.

Countless shadows erupted from the rubble, merging with the three disintegrating mutated Spider-Men, compressing into particles that fused into one and poured into the body of the "boy Peter."

His face, as if corroded, twitched violently; blood-tears streamed from his ruptured eyes; the boy gradually transformed into a monstrous amalgamation of twisted, overlapping faces.

"What the hell is that?!" The boy Peter stepped out from behind Su Lin.

"Historical projection," Su Lin's eye twitched, then corrected himself: "Basic Pokémon projection plus a pile of evolution stones turned into a stitched-together Ultimate Form Digimon Spider-Beast."

It was a black, shadowy spider, its body covered with numerous human faces.

Men and women, old and young.

The historical projection Su Lin had pulled forth had broken free of his control and could no longer be canceled.

"I thought I'd get some peace during the day."

Su Lin pulled the boy Peter back: "Don't wander off."

Peter glanced at Uncle Ben watching TV and Aunt May scolding him, then nodded timidly.

"I've got one technique I haven't used yet."

Su Lin lowered his finger, canceling the prelude of Genesis; to avoid his friends constantly saying he only knew one move, he decided to try a different approach to test the current situation.

"Want to learn kung fu, Peter?"

"What did you say?"

Peter looked up, bewildered, when suddenly a powerful wind surged, nearly blinding him; he covered his eyes with his hands and peered through his fingers at what lay ahead.

A solemn, blurred silhouette rose behind the man; his aura spread, causing the ruins to tremble violently, the house itself groaning in anguish.

"Divine Martial Art"

Su Lin and the spectral figure behind him raised their palms in unison; a terrifying vortex coalesced in their hands; as the five fingers slowly clenched, the heavens instantly turned blood-red.

"Fated Death!"

A divine seal, as it coalesced, was instantly stamped down by the shadow behind Su Lin, crushing the snarling, howling human-faced spider.

Immediately after, the human-faced spider sensed some threat—its eight legs darted rapidly, its form vanishing from naked eyes; in less than a blink, it lunged toward Su Lin, spikes descending.

"I know what you are."

Su Lin lifted his head; beneath the suspended human-faced spider, five mysterious divine seals rose from the floor.

Brilliant as the sun.

Springing forth from this world of shadow and ill-omened ruins, they spread in all directions, encircling Su Lin and the human-faced spider, absorbing the boundless crimson from the heavens.

Disappearance in the perception of others, end of self-life, dissolution of individual existence, erasure from the timeline of the past, deletion of future possibilities.

All through this cruel, mad, all-consuming destruction.

"I bestow upon you your destined death."

【Divine Martial: Death of Fate】 Activation Condition: One divine seal as a marker, plus five additional divine seals drawn, to bestow the Death of Fate upon all within range.

The cost: the deceased must bear an equal weight of death.

Su Lin gazed at the human-faced spider before him; fate spiraled around, time like a mirage—he stepped forward, fire and petals flew, rolling in with the red dust.

"History recorded with time as the warp and events as the weft—the chronicle of Spider-Man."

His eyes filled with pity, he turned slowly to Peter and said: "You're in for a world of pain."

Temporarily composed, flowing from the primordial source, granting infinite possibilities to this illusory world.

Countless illusions surfaced from Su Lin; brilliant light surged from his eyes; scorching fragments of memory radiated the glory of past and future.

The weight of multiple historical deaths naturally requires an equal historical weight as repayment to be truly equivalent.

For some reason, Peter felt this man was going to die.

Trembling uncontrollably, he saw the mysterious man turn to light, and all impressions of him in Peter's mind began to slip away.

A cry of ruin echoed from this nightmare world—the crumbling sky, earth, city ruins, homes—none of it frightened Peter.

Because that towering back seemed to bear it all for him; beams of light streamed through the cracks in the walls.

"Mr."

Eleven-year-old Peter reached out toward the figure fading into the light.

"Peter, did you forget something?" Aunt May's voice sounded beside his ear.

"If you don't want to leave home, I'll call and cancel the appointment," Ben Parker knelt before Peter, brushing away tears from his corner:

"You're just a child, Peter. You don't have to force yourself."

Peter stared blankly at Uncle Ben, then turned dully to look at Aunt May, who had picked up the landline phone.

Guilt and emotion swelled in his heart, yet he could not recall why he stood in the room—as if a memory had vanished from his mind.

Empty.

"Alright, you don't need to go for treatment," Ben Parker hugged Peter and gave May a glance.

"I—" Peter Parker wanted to say something.

Thump! Thump!

A knock came at the door.

The three in the room turned to the door—there, standing where the old iron door had somehow opened, was an Asian man in a suit, long black hair, handsome face.

"Sorry I'm late. I'm a representative of the Stark Children's Foundation."

Su Lin smiled slightly and asked Peter: "You're Peter Parker?"

"Sorry, Mr. —I'm afraid—" Ben Parker's face showed guilt and embarrassment as he struggled for words: "My nephew—"

"Goodbye, Uncle. Goodbye, Aunt May." Peter glanced back at May, grabbed his luggage, sprinted to Su Lin's side, eyes gleaming with excitement.

He remembered—he recalled everything that had just happened!

Ben Parker nodded, satisfied, watching Peter.

"Thank you for taking care of him."

"Don't worry. I have years of experience in mental health management."

Su Lin patted Peter's head and said:

"My last patient who couldn't tell reality from illusion is now the top science student in his school—his mental state is perfectly healthy."

Amid Ben Parker and May's thanks, Su Lin led Peter—eyes wide, face brimming with curiosity—to a vehicle outside.

"Mr., have we met before?"

"The first time I've ever heard that line was from a kid."

Su Lin sighed, resting his hand on the steering wheel: "Couldn't you at least have a blonde little girl ask that?"

Peter: "?"

He glanced at the Bible beside the seat, then at the cross dangling from the rearview mirror, recalling certain rumors about churches.

"Happy Hogan believes in Christ?" Su Lin picked up the Bible, glanced at it, then tossed it to the back seat:

"Fine. I'll bless your blood sugar stability—but you should eat fewer donuts."

The residual prayers left on the Bible by this middle-aged office drone weren't for wealth, but for concern over his own health.

"Are you a hidden superhero in this city, dealing with monsters? I know this isn't a dream—it's just like in the comics—I've been pulled into—"

Peter exhaled and began talking nonstop.

Diagnosis: Early-stage loquaciousness.

"I have no obligation or responsibility," Su Lin released the handbrake, placed his foot on the clutch, and said:

"But you're lucky—otherwise, this universe would've had to find a new anchor point…"

But that would be such a hassle.

Su Lin was genuinely curious: when Peter Parker's natural lifespan ends, who will inherit this timeline's anchor?

"Maybe they can make a cyber spider: 2077."

Peter, not understanding what Su Lin was saying, looked utterly bewildered.

"But one thing you're right about, kid," Su Lin adjusted the rearview mirror and said:

"You've been pulled into a comic book event called the Secret Holy Grail War."

This unlucky brat is fast becoming a check-in point of this universe—since the day our group arrived, Reincarnators, Servants, zombies.

Now even that group of historical concept aggregates will find him for all sorts of reasons.

Tony Stark, who truly didn't want to keep distracted every night watching this side, decided to find an excuse to take Peter Parker away and put him somewhere safe before nightfall.

Like the Continental Hotel.

Luckily, Su Lin had a sudden whim today and thought he'd come over to also check in and collect stamps.

He'd originally thought they were some corrupted or infected temporal counterparts; even if they required Divine Martial Techniques, it'd just be a matter of reviving them two or three times—but after witnessing their mutual annihilation just now, sensing their weight, he realized they were a whole host of history.

History altered and modified by the interference of Reincarnators.

The Celestial Annals.

No doubt, those failed MEN truly failed.

Thanks to them, Su had just tasted the flavor of countless timelines extinguished.

Though due to the presence of the Root and Celestial Fragments, it was an insignificant cost, the feeling was like stubbing your little toe on a doorframe.

"Peter, buckle your seatbelt."

Su Lin wasn't truly driving—he'd merely stolen the journey from here to the destination.

"Are you here specifically to protect me?"

Peter, watching the blurred landscape outside the window fade away, wasn't afraid; he kept asking: "Am I special, like the protagonist of a comic?"

"You'd better have been bitten by a radioactive spider; otherwise, your medical file needs another entry: middle-school delusion syndrome," Su Lin said with a strange expression.

"So you're a superhero secretly protecting the city and its people, even sacrificing yourself to save others in danger?" Peter asked.

"Why would I do any of these things?"

"You can fight those monsters."

Individual heroism is showing its first signs—time to increase the dosage.

"Listen, Peter."

Su Lin slammed on the brakes, turned to face him, and said: "With great power comes less responsibility."

"I'll do whatever I want."

A flicker of red light flashed in his eyes; he opened the car door and smiled: "Get out."

At the entrance of the Continental Hotel, Peter Parker watched the figure pull the keys, step out, and walk toward the hotel, silently committing those words to memory.

"With great power comes less responsibility."

So cool!