Chapter 717: U: The Infinite Event (33)

Peter instantly jumped backward, then realized his spider-sense hadn't triggered—he turned his head left and right, but didn't see Shi Ler's figure. Who was Stark talking about?

"Peter, you're just in time—grab him!"

"What? Who? Where?" Peter, just landed, stared around in confusion, turning his head frantically.

This was Stark's lab, but the current state inside would drive any researcher insane—all bookshelves and filing cabinets had toppled over, the workbenches were smashed to pieces, and bite marks of unknown origin marred the chair legs.

Peter looked up and saw Stark raising his hand—*boom! —he fired a blast straight into his own floor. Peter gasped, mouth wide open: "Mr. Stark! What are you doing?! That's brand-new flooring—Pepper will be furious!"

"I'm catching someone! Can't you see?!" Stark snapped, frustrated. "Help me grab him!"

"Someone? Where? I don't see anyone?!" Peter remained frozen, bewildered—he suspected he was hallucinating; the lab clearly held only him and Stark.

Then, his spider-sense twitched faintly—this level of warning meant no lethal danger. Peter shifted one step sideways, then felt a sharp pain at the back of his head.

"Oh!" Peter cried out.

He touched the back of his head, staring at the direction the attack came from—but there was nothing there.

"Ow!" he cried again—this time, pain struck his shoulder. He spun toward the direction, and saw a section of the workbench shift slightly. Peter flinched, leaping backward, stammering: "W-wait… it's not bugs, is it?!"

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! It hurts!" Suddenly, Peter jerked like he'd been electrocuted—his shoulders, calves, ankles, and back were all struck by multiple unseen objects.

Peter bounced and flailed, scratching his head, reaching behind to defend himself—then his hand brushed against something stuck to his suit. He grabbed it, yanked it off, and found a plastic arrow no longer than one of his finger joints.

Peter held the arrow between his thumb and forefinger, holding it up to his eyes. Because it was so tiny, focusing on it made his eyes cross.

Just then, a barely audible sound came—and Peter began screaming and hopping again, dancing a frantic tap step in place.

Stark, by contrast, floated in midair, arms crossed, eyes narrowed as he watched Peter.

But Peter had no one to complain to—his spider-sense was too faint to even determine the direction of the threat.

The plastic arrow only stung when it hit—zero lethality, not even a scratch on his new spider-suit.

But flies don't bite, yet they're still annoying. After being struck over a dozen times, Peter finally snapped—he stood still, head tilted up, shouting: "Stop!"

!

To his surprise, the attacks stopped. Peter placed his hands on his hips, scanning the room—then noticed a filing cabinet drawer twitch. He strode over.

He reached out, flipped the entire cabinet over, lifted the drawer—and inside, sitting atop a plastic toy-like Lego dinosaur, was a tiny humanoid with a cylindrical head, holding a bow no longer than a finger joint, squinting one eye as he aimed at Peter.

Before Peter could react, another arrow struck his forehead. He screamed "Ow!" again, clapped both hands over his head, and hurled the drawer away.

No need to explain Spider-Man's strength—the drawer, flung instinctively, slammed into the wall. The plastic figures inside shattered into pieces with a *clatter*.

Peter's eyes widened—he rushed over, gathering the scattered parts. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to—I didn't mean to destroy someone's work!"

He tried desperately to reassemble the pieces, but too many fragments were lost among the lab debris—the dinosaur was missing a leg, part of its tail was gone, and one of the Lego man's feet was nowhere to be found.

The final arm lay in Peter's hand. He reached to attach it—but the Lego man swatted his finger away. Peter yelped, clutching his finger, glaring at the tiny figure.

"If you can't build Lego, stay away from me!" The Lego Shi Ler snatched his own arm back, snapped it into place in seconds, then twisted his reversed head around to study Peter. "You're the Spider-Man of this universe? You're ugly. In our universe, Spider-Man had a beautiful cylindrical head. My favorite thing about him? He was brilliant at building Lego—and fixing loose parts from wear. I always said he'd make a great doctor. But he'd never suit being a psychiatrist—it's too delicate a job. You? And you all? You're not cut out for it…"

Peter crouched, leaning close, his two mismatched compound eyes squinting in a strange expression. He asked: "Are you Professor Shi Ler?"

"Don't play dumb, kid." The Lego Shi Ler limped off to find his dinosaur's leg.

Peter stood up, looking at Stark. "I guess he's the one who trashed this lab?"

Stark landed, snorted. "Who else could it be?"

"What happened? How did he even get into the lab?"

Stark rolled his eyes, recalling this morning.

Stark had already prepared a vacuum cleaner—though in his weapon catalog, he called it the "Anti-Shi Ler Armor." But it was, in fact, just a giant vacuum.

The problem? He built the vacuum—but no storage compartment. Or rather, the one he built could hold only one Shi Ler; any more, and he'd escape. So Stark returned to the lab to quickly fabricate additional storage units for more Shi Lers.

Stark Tower had been fully upgraded into a highly advanced automated facility—Stark just had to tell JARVIS, and the production line would activate. But the storage units needed fine-tuning—design schematics had to be revised. So early this morning, Stark came to the lab to begin work.

While he was deeply focused on drafting blueprints, he heard a noise from the adjacent prep room. At first, he assumed it was JARVIS preparing an experiment, and ignored it.

But the noise grew louder. Stark felt his concentration slipping. He said: "JARVIS, keep it down—you're disturbing my experiment!"

But later, the noise grew louder, and Stark felt his thoughts were being disturbed, so he said: "JARVIS, turn it down—you're interrupting my experiment!"

Stark sighed, set down his pen, and called toward the prep room: "Helen! Helen, come out! Stop playing! When I finish this blueprint, I'll take you to the nearest amusement park—you love that place, don't you? Behave, don't cause trouble!"

He returned to his work. But two minutes later, the noise resumed. Stark took a deep breath, threw his pen down, and walked toward the prep room, muttering: "Helen, if you keep acting up, I'm signing you up for dance class…"

Stark opened the door—Helen wasn't inside. The prep room was empty.

Then, the same thing that happened to Peter happened to Stark—but this time, Stark had JARVIS activate the surveillance. He saw a Lego man riding a dinosaur, rummaging through drawers.

"JARVIS, how did he get in?" Stark shouted into the air.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know. I suspect he entered as a component, mixed in with raw production materials."

Stark sighed, stepped forward to grab the Lego dinosaur—only for it to leap away and bite him.

Stark pulled his hand back, shook it, and examined his fingertip. Fortunately, the dinosaur's teeth were plastic—only a tiny dent remained, no real damage.

Stark crossed his arms, staring at the Lego Shi Ler. The Lego Shi Ler stared back. Stark read the meaning in his expression.

"You think I'm going to call in my suit to deal with you? Hmph. My suit isn't for this kind of thing. Stark will show you what a genius hunter looks like!"

"You think I'm calling my suit to fight you? Hmph, my suit isn't meant for this—Stark will show you what a genius hunter truly is!"

Dressed in his suit, Stark stepped up to Peter. "That's the story. This damn intruder broke into my lab and forced me to blow up most of the equipment with missiles!"

Peter crouched, eye-level with the Lego Shi Ler. "Good thing he's the same size as a real Lego toy—if he were human-sized, this would be a disaster."

Stark looked at the wreckage of his lab and sighed deeply. He turned to the Lego Shi Ler: "Do you realize how much damage you caused? What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Damage?" The Lego Shi Ler shook his head. "You have no idea—my versions in this universe are the least destructive."

Stark snorted, clearly unconvinced. Before he could say more, a portal suddenly opened in midair—Strange's voice roared from within:

Stark snorted coldly, clearly unconvinced; just as he was about to say more to Shiler, a portal suddenly opened in midair, and Strange's roar came blasting out:

"Grab Shi Ler!"

!

Stark and Peter stared at the portal. Strange leaned halfway out. "That damn vampire! He wants this much salary?! That's the entire annual budget of Kamar-Taj! Get over here and take him away!"

As the Lego Shi Ler looked up at Strange, a cage dropped from above. Stark caught it, lifted it, and stared at the Lego Shi Ler inside. "You'll stay here for now. We've got another one to deal with."

Then he told Peter: "There are three Shi Lers at the sanatorium—too many to handle. Let's go after the lone one at Kamar-Taj first."

They stepped through the portal into Kamar-Taj, where Strange was facing off against the Potion Master Shi Ler.

Both glowed with magical energy. The Potion Master Shi Ler held his staff, unleashing spells in rapid succession—Strange was already falling behind.

Mainly because spellcasting required no incantation—just a wand motion and a muttered word, instantly cast. But Strange's spells always had a casting animation. Meanwhile, Shi Ler simply shouted "Expelliarmus!"—and no matter the ribbon or hoop, it was all blasted away.

When Stark and Peter joined the battle, they faced the same problem—whether magic missiles or web-shooters, all were disarmed by "Expelliarmus."

Strange paused, shouted to Peter: "Peter! Remember! Only magic can defeat magic!"

Peter suddenly understood. He fumbled for his wand—but magical energy was already surging toward him. Shi Ler wouldn't give him time to prepare.

Panicked, Peter twisted his wand, swung it instinctively, and muttered a spell—trying to deflect Shi Ler's attack.

But earlier, in Champa's universe, when he'd repeatedly chanted "Diffindo" a hundred times to attack the black orb, his muscles had memorized it. The moment he swung, the words burst out unbidden:

But earlier, when he had attacked the black sphere in Champa's universe, he had recited the incantation for Divine Blade Shadow hundreds of times, forming a muscle memory—and in the instant he swung his staff, he blurted it out unconsciously:

Instantly, an invisible blade sliced through Shi Ler's robe. His expression darkened. He gripped his wand tightly and said coldly to Peter:

"Peter… you're using my magic to attack me?"

"Peter, you want to use my magic against me?"

"Divine Blade, Invisible!"