Chapter 884: Starry Splendor (26)

Peter shook his head vigorously, then squeezed his eyes shut with force until his eyebrows and eyelids were pressed into a single line. When he opened them again, the tears clinging to his eyelashes blurred into a shimmering halo of light.

Peter saw his own arm wave in front of his eyes, but it was several seconds before he regained control of his body. The next second, he sprang up into a defensive stance, only to find that his Spider-Sense did not trigger.

The faces of the three people before him were very familiar: Nick Fury, Coulson, and Dr. Dora, all of whom should have been dead long ago.

Even stranger was that each of them had a halo hovering above their heads, emitting a bright light.

For a moment, Peter felt as though his brain had stopped turning. He looked down at his hands and found they were no different from what he remembered.

He opened his mouth to speak, only to find his voice was slightly delayed. When he tried to stand straight, the moment he exerted force, he found himself floating. Peter widened his eyes in shock, but then he was immediately scooped up by an insect net.

The three people with halos above their heads crowded around immediately. Nick spoke up, "I knew it. Even if it's Spider-Man, the first time he comes here, he's bound to float away. It was normal for me to float away back then too, right?"

Coulson looked at Peter and said, "Seriously, I lost again. I thought Spider-Man's physical coordination would be better and he wouldn't make this kind of mistake."

Dr. Dora pushed up her glasses and said, "If you have time to make bets here, you might as well go help in the lab. Let's go."

After saying this, Dr. Dora turned to leave. Schiller removed the insect net, and Peter stood up. He turned back to look at Schiller and asked, "Dr. Schiller, what exactly is going on here? Am I dead? Is this Heaven?? But... why are you here?!"

"This is indeed Heaven," Schiller replied in a flat tone. He said, "However, my halo was taken for other business, so I don't look much like an angel."

"But... but you aren't dead either? Weren't you in Washington? Oh, God, Doctor, have you sacrificed yourself too?!" Peter's brain was still chaotic as he had just regained consciousness. He hadn't grasped the current situation at all, so his thoughts were in disarray.

Schiller walked up, put an arm around Peter's shoulder, and said, "Don't be anxious. Guests from afar are welcome. Let us first introduce you to the place where you will be living from now on—Heaven."

Still in a daze, Peter was led by Schiller out of this place filled with bright halos, and then arrived at a beautiful sanctuary.

The entire sanctuary was extremely vast; when the few of them walked inside, they were like tiny specks, appearing as insignificant as cosmic dust.

On both sides of the golden sanctuary stood six giant statues, with flags of different patterns hanging behind them. In the very center of the sanctuary was a fountain, and at the very front was a large gate.

Peter's mind was slowly clearing. He recalled something and then said, "Wait a minute, this is Heaven?? But... why does this decoration style look a bit like Kamar-Taj?"

"That is your illusion," Schiller said immediately. He quickened his pace, led Peter to the gate, and after pushing it open, outside was a plaza.

The stone-paved road made of rock carried a natural aura. On the tall shrubbery, besides blooming Rosaceae plants, grapevines, and various creepers, butterflies and dragonflies were fluttering about.

Burly stone pillars stood on both sides of the road, with metal trellises supported atop them, upon which many plants were climbing, currently blooming with flower after flower.

Walking forward along the dappled tree shadows, the center of the plaza was a large garden centered around a fountain. Neatly trimmed shrubs radiated outward from the fountain, dividing the entire plaza into several sections.

Passing by the fountain, Peter glanced at the statue above it. It wasn't the kind of little angel or goddess statue common in New York; instead, it was a sculpture of a sailing ship riding the wind and waves.

Peter recalled something again and said, "Why does this have a bit of a Nordic style? This kind of statue is only used by hunting and fishing peoples, right?"

Schiller immediately reached out and turned Peter's head in another direction, saying, "That's just a decoration. We go this way."

Peter still wanted to look back, but Schiller had already pulled him around a corner. Walking straight along this road, Peter saw a magical building: a pyramid that was half-floating in the air.

The lower half of this pyramid sat very solidly on the ground; Peter even saw a Sphinx on it. However, its tip was floating in the air. Peter rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.

Arriving in front of the pyramid's gate, Peter opened his mouth wide, looked up at the giant Sphinx, and said, "I've wanted to travel to Egypt for a long time. I didn't expect the Sphinx to be really this big..."

"Hello, newcomer. I am indeed this big," the Sphinx said.

Peter jumped up on the spot and flew into mid-air again. Schiller had to take out the insect net and swat him down once more. He cautioned, "Peter, while you haven't adapted to your soul state, don't jump around. If you fly any higher, be careful not to bump into Pegasus."

"Oh, sorry," Peter apologized instinctively. But then, he shouted, "But!!! Why can the Sphinx talk??!!"

"Let me ask you, can spiders fly?" Schiller looked at him and asked.

Peter shook his head instinctively. Schiller added, "You've already flown, so why shouldn't the Sphinx be allowed to talk?"

"Sphinx, please help us open the gate. The newcomer needs to register," Schiller waved at the Sphinx.

The Sphinx smiled and nodded. With a "Boom—", the gate at the bottom of the pyramid opened. After walking inside, Peter realized this was not the narrow passage he had imagined, but another vast hall.

Persian-style carpets were laid from the entrance all the way to the end of the hall. Twelve pillars supported the entire hall, with circles of candles wrapped around them. The flickering candlelight added a touch of mystery.

Low tables were neatly arranged between the pillars. Peter saw many humanoid creatures with black dog heads shuttling between these tables. They were speaking a language Peter couldn't understand at all, yet Peter could grasp their meaning.

"One resurrected from the Egyptian Pantheon! Report tomorrow at 2 PM! Lord Anubis said this one is his relative, so be polite when receiving them..."

"Two resurrected from the Asgardian Valhalla. Ah, wait, it's one; one is temporarily not coming. Who is going to receive them? No one? But, even if you don't like those brutes, this is your job..."

"One for Heaven! Let me see... this afternoon, oh, that is, right now. Where is the person? Who was supposed to receive them? Don't tell me they're late again?"

"There are too many quotas for Heaven recently. The first human resurrected was taken to Lord Anubis because their skin was too dark. Make sure not to make any more mistakes. Human souls are very fragile; if they get broken, it would be a disaster..."

"Peter Parker! Is Peter Parker here?! Human Peter Parker! Are you dead? What's going on? Why aren't you dead yet? Seriously, late again..."

"Peter Parker is here," Schiller raised his hand and shouted. The dog-headed person who was looking around for the target saw it was Schiller and immediately came over. He said, "Lord Archangel, is this the new angel Peter Parker? Follow me. Let's register first, then go to the temple next door to collect supplies..."

Peter felt his brain had turned into mush and was completely unable to think. The thoughts that had just cleared up were stirred into chaos again. After all, the situation before him was completely beyond his range of understanding.

He could only follow Schiller step by step, through a side door of the temple, into another room.

Sitting behind the desk was a giant hippopotamus. At this moment, her chubby hands were holding a quill pen to write. Hearing the movement of the door opening, she looked up and let out an exclamation.

"Oh, my God! Schiller! You finally came! I was just about to ask you, you've received many people in Heaven these past few months. Do you really have enough quotas to resurrect them?"

"Don't forget, human souls are different from the souls of our pantheon. Your souls are much more fragile. If they stay here too long, they won't adapt when they return to their bodies."

"Thank you for your concern, Goddess. In fact, they haven't filled my resurrection quota yet. After all, Heaven's resurrection business has just opened, unlike you, who have accumulated tens of thousands of years of quotas that haven't been realized, which is why it seems overcrowded."

"Oh, don't mention it!" The Hippo Goddess let out a mournful cry and said, "Anubis just told me he miscounted a batch of people from three thousand years ago. Our quotas are even tighter!"

"Hey, is this Peter Parker?" The Hippo Goddess grinned, smiled as she came over, grabbed Peter's arm, and said with a smile, "He really is a great lad. When Schiller mentioned you before, I knew you must be a good child..."

"Come here, child. I need to register you. How old are you this year? Where do you go to school?... New York University? God! You must be a very good student! I have a son who also goes to New York University..."

"What? You live not far from Forest Avenue in Midtown? I have a daughter who also lives there! Do you have a girlfriend? She must be a good girl. Come, let me see your soul..."

"Oh, Amun! Why is your soul so vibrant? Let me see your heart of good and evil... My God, my God, there is actually such a kind person in this world. Come here, child, come sit down and fill out this form..."

The Hippo Goddess led Peter to her desk. After letting Peter sit down, she handed him a form and said, "Don't be nervous, fill it out slowly. I'll go get you some snacks..."

After saying this, she smiled and nodded at Schiller beside her. Schiller also smiled and nodded at her. The atmosphere between the two was like a father meeting a future homeroom teacher when taking his child to school for the first time.

Peter's movements were a bit stiff, and then, upon seeing the form, his expression became even stiffer, because the first question on the form was: "May I ask, how did you die?"

Following this question to look further down, the second question was the time of death, followed by the deity worshipped, the scheduled time for resurrection, the expected lifespan after resurrection, and so on.

Peter's hand holding the pen trembled slightly. But at this moment, Schiller walked up, tilted the paper slightly, pointed at the things on the paper, and said, "I'll teach you how to fill it out. Come, fill in the time of death truthfully. The deity worshipped is the faith affiliation. You should be a Protestant, right? Then just fill in God directly..."

"The scheduled time for resurrection... fill in 'immediately'. You can write whatever you want for the expected lifespan after resurrection; you can write 100 years, or 200 years. This has absolutely no effect..."

"Wasn't the soul vitality tested just now? Just write 'excellent'. You don't need to fill in the heart of good and evil item. Look here, summarize your life in a few sentences..."

"No, there's no need to write from elementary school. Mainly write about your grades. This is for the resurrection application. However, because Heaven's quotas are relatively generous, you don't need to queue. Just write whatever..." ===== CHAPTER 885 =====