Chapter 705

Cold-tinged incandescent lights flickered on one by one, illuminating the empty corridor; the white walls reflected the glare, harsh on the eyes. As footsteps drew nearer, the laboratory door creaked open, and three nearly identical Spider-Men stepped inside.

Just as Amazing Spider-Man opened his mouth to speak, Future Peter walked straight to the lab bench, gesturing: "This is my lab. Dr. Otto is in the other room—if you have any questions, just press this communicator to call him."

"That door over there leads to the archives. The warehouse and special storage are downstairs—take the right staircase, it's faster. The prep room at the end of the hall has everything you need. The lighting circuit is on the left, the power circuit on the right—don't mix them up."

With that, Future Peter strode into the archives and returned moments later with a stack of files, placing them before the two. "This is the current experimental progress catalog. For detailed records, check the computer in the back archives—the password requires you to ask the AI via communicator; it recognizes voiceprints. Since you're also Peter Parker, you should pass."

"Oh, by the way, there's a chemistry lab on the far right of the third floor. Dr. Connors gave me some tasks—I'll handle them there. If you have time, take a look. Better still, help me finish them."

"Oh, and there are some parts downstairs in the mechanical workshop—Stark asked me to assemble them. They're due tomorrow morning. Don't forget."

"What else… let me think… oh, right—low-temperature research. But the lab for that isn't in this building—you need to go to the adjacent one."

"Alright, let me check the time…" Future Peter glanced at his watch. "Oh, it's time to head to the Lizard Serum lab. I'll be off—you two get to work."

"Hey, wait—don't go!" Amazing Spider-Man blocked him. "Do you really do nothing but this every day? When do you fight crime?"

"Uh, usually Friday nights, 7 to 9." Future Peter replied. But Peter was startled. "That's not right—I go out two hours every Wednesday night. If you're my future self, how can you just cut that time?"

"Come on, do you have any idea how busy I am? Fine, you'll find out soon enough—multiple projects running in parallel, every lab needs me. Everyone calls Peter the jack-of-all-trades."

"Don't even mention me—Gwen's swamped too. She's juggling three jobs across different bio-labs at Oscorp. Old Oscorp even praised her as the most diligent new-gen researcher…"

"Low-temperature tech, biological exosuits, Lizard Serum, mechanical armor, Mercury Base, solar energy, spaceship decryption, astronomical observation, near-Earth research… I'm already lucky to squeeze out two hours for crimefighting!"

"Alright, I guess so." Peter sighed. "Looks like I'll be swamped for the next two months."

"What's going on here?" Amazing Spider-Man asked. "What about the super-criminals causing chaos in New York? Who's handling them? If no one does, what happens to ordinary civilians?"

"Super-criminals? You mean who?"

"Well… the Sinister Six. Haven't you heard? In my universe, they're the most evil criminals—every day they wreak havoc in New York…"

"Who exactly are they? What powers do they have?" Future Peter rubbed his chin.

"Sandman—he controls sand. Electro—he controls electricity. Doctor Octopus… well, Doctor Octopus is a good guy in your universe. Vulture—a guy with wings. Mysterio…"

"Plus Chameleon, Rhino, and others—haven't you encountered them?" Amazing Spider-Man spread his hands, baffled.

"Sandman… let me think… vaguely familiar… oh! I remember!" Future Peter suddenly realized. "The day before yesterday, Stark mentioned a new guy at Mercury Base who controls soil—he's been a huge help with the foundation construction. That must be your Sandman."

"And Electro—controls circuits? I recall Thunder told me about someone with similar abilities, currently helping crack the Kree spaceship's electrical systems. Could that be your Electro?"

"As for the others... I suspect they're all busy." Future Peter shook his head. "Nick Fury is nearly insane, chasing people all over the world—not just those with useful powers, but even mutants with barely functional abilities are screened extensively, and if they have even a shred of utility, they're assigned a role."

"You don't know how desperate we are for manpower. If we weren't truly stretched to the breaking point, why would we assign someone as brilliant as Dr. Otto to lead a whole project team alone? Don't the decision-makers realize this is a waste of top-tier researchers' potential?"

Future Peter sighed. "Ordinary people have brains, but some tasks can't be done by brains alone. During space exploration, the environment is lethal to ordinary humans—carelessness means death."

"In comparison, mutants or extraordinary individuals are the ideal choice. Ordinary people handle surface research and tech upgrades; those with special abilities deploy the tech…"

"Right now, both sides are critically short-staffed. Whether you have special abilities or research skills, you're already deployed in this project. If your people really have such incredible powers, Nick Fury would've grabbed them long ago—he won't let any such labor slip away."

Peter and Amazing Spider-Man exchanged glances. Amazing Spider-Man shrugged. "Alright then, let me see what you're researching. After all, I'm a top-tier researcher at the New York Institute of Discovery…"

Ten minutes later, Amazing Spider-Man collapsed face-first onto the desk. He groaned, sat up, clutched the file to his forehead. "What is this? How is it even possible to freeze a person solid without harming them?"

"And this—molten steel? Are these data real? When did Earth develop such a material?"

"My god, mechanical base schematics? Did Iron Man make this? Why didn't my world's Iron Man have this tech? I've never heard of it…"

"Mercury Base, solar energy—what are you even trying to do? Has humanity entered the space colonization era?"

Peter, however, calmly recorded data. "Some parts are indeed hard—I didn't understand them at first either. If you can't figure it out, go next door to Dr. Otto, or call Dr. Yin Sen or Stark. Dr. Connors works too—someone will answer your questions."

Amazing Spider-Man glanced back at the door, uneasy. "Go ask Doctor Octopus for help? That's just… a bit…"

Five minutes later, in Otto's lab, the two uppermost tentacles held up a whiteboard, one side tentacle held a pen, another an eraser. Otto scribbled and explained, spittle flying.

"How many times have I told you? The data you just calculated is wrong. Didn't you check the machine? Will this even run?"

"Watch this model—here… and here… these are our next experimental priorities. You, recalculate this model. You, activate the machine…"

Peter and Amazing Spider-Man, sitting on small stools before Otto, exchanged glances, sighed, then each picked up their stools and went off to do something else.

Just as Amazing Spider-Man stood with arms crossed, studying a machine he'd never seen before, a loud crash echoed—the door to the lab was kicked open. A squad of S. . . . . . agents stormed in. Peter instinctively leapt back, knocking Otto off balance.

Otto nearly fell. Sensing his center of gravity shift, he instinctively used his tentacles to brace the floor and stabilize himself—but the lowest tentacle brushed against a lab bench. It swung, sparking a cascade of electricity that startled Peter, who was still reading files.

Peter's spider-sense flared—he leapt backward again, colliding with another tentacle. That tentacle veered off, lashing toward Future Peter.

Future Peter's spider-sense flared—he instinctively threw a punch. The tentacle deflected, sending Otto tumbling to the ground. Instantly, all four long tentacles thrashed wildly, wrapping all three Spider-Men in a tangled knot.

Agent Coulson, leading the team, stared at the writhing mass of Otto and the Spider-Men. He opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

After a long pause, Otto climbed to his feet. Coulson waved his hand—S. . . . . . agents rushed forward and untangled the four writhing tentacles.

Coulson cleared his throat. "Agent Coulson, S. . . . . . I hear you have several Spider-Men here. Come with me."

Finally freed from the tentacles, Amazing Spider-Man, Peter, and Future Peter all sighed together, then followed Coulson out.

Half an hour later, in Nick Fury's office, Fury stared at Amazing Spider-Man. "You're saying… beyond our universe, there are infinite parallel universes—each one containing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Dr. Otto, Dr. Connors, Dr. Yin Sen… and countless other geniuses????"

Amazing Spider-Man swallowed hard—he was certain he saw green sparks flicker in Fury's eyes.

Elsewhere, Otto, alone in the chaotic lab, used his tentacles to gather the shattered lampshades. Suddenly, he heard movement in the hallway.

The lab's lighting system was destroyed. Darkness filled the room. Otto removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes—and saw a figure with four tentacles standing outside the door.

As the moonlight grew stronger, Otto saw the figure outside the door was Spider-Man—

a Spider-Man with octopus tentacles.