Chapter 702: The Infinite Event (Part 18) (Patreon)

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"Did I... time-travel?" Peter Parker's disbelief deepened. "Oh, wait. I just looked at the calendar. It says December..."

"What are you talking about? It's clearly the beginning of October. Didn't you just start your college term?" Stark retorted.

"So... I've come to the future? How did this happen? I clearly..."

Peter trailed off, utterly perplexed. His voice faded as he was hit by a flashback, taking him back to the moment of Schiller's death.

Overwhelming grief consumed him—sorrow, regret, anxiety, guilt. Emotions swirled, but the dominant thought was: he might have had a chance to change it all. Before leaving his dimension, Stark, Strange, and Schiller had infused him with an immense amount of magic energy—so much that it could satiate even a Cosmic God. Yet, this power remained dormant within Peter, unused.

Peter acknowledged his indifference to mysticism. Philosophical explanations laden with metaphors never piqued his interest, so he never imagined needing such powers. So, when confronted with Schiller's death, his first thought was, "Why didn't I learn magic? Why didn't I harness this energy? Maybe then I could've saved Dr. Schiller."

Such thoughts might seem extreme, but in that moment, Peter was ensnared by negativity, unable to break free. However, Peter truly lacked understanding of magic. As he contemplated learning magic, a phrase echoed in his mind: "The secret of magic is to make one's wishes come true."

He grasped the meaning. Magic had, in fact, granted his deepest desire—to save Schiller, to bring him back to life. But what puzzled Peter was the time jump. To resurrect the dead, shouldn't he travel back instead of forward?

Peter was deeply lost in thought when Stark's voice interrupted him. "Peter, meddling with the timeline is dangerous. We shouldn't interfere recklessly; it could lead to catastrophic consequences. I can't assist you now, but seek out the Stark of this timeline. Borrow a mobile phone and call him."

As Stark's voice faded, Peter quickly borrowed a phone from a neighbor, given his affable reputation.

"Hello? Mr. Stark? Yes, it's me..."

Stark's voice sounded surprised. "What's up, Peter? You got home quickly. Didn't I warn you about driving too fast?"

"I... uh... ran into some friends on the road. One's badly injured and might need urgent care."

"Why didn't you call an ambulance?... Never mind. Just wait."

Hanging up, Peter reassured the Amazing Spider-Man, "Hold on. Mr. Stark will be here soon."

Soon, with a swoosh, Iron Man landed in front of Peter. Before Stark could speak, he noticed someone beside Peter in a suit resembling his own.

"Is this your friend?" Stark inquired. "A copycat?"

"Yeah, kind of. Please, Mr. Stark, help him first," Peter gestured toward Otto Parker. Noticing the familiar spider pattern on Otto's attire, Stark quipped, "Didn't expect you to have so many fans. You might surpass me soon."

Peter chuckled awkwardly. Suddenly, Stark's expression changed to astonishment. "God, did you make this yourself?"

"No, you did..." Peter responded, confused. The suit's gadgets were given to him by Stark before he left.

"Alright, kid. No need to be modest. I always knew you'd surpass me one day. I just didn't think it'd be this soon," Stark said, patting Peter's shoulder.

Stark's expression was complex, but mostly prideful. Peter, however, was perplexed. The future Stark didn't recognize the suit—how was this possible? If this was indeed his dimension's future, Stark should've remembered Spider-Man's Multiverse journey. It had only been a month, after all. How could he forget?

Upon inspecting Stark's armor, Peter confirmed this was his dimension. This universe's Iron Man had multiple suits— not just the classic red and gold. Some were silver-blue, some forest green.

Stark's current suit was silver-blue, more refined than the chunky red-gold version. Peter had never heard of such a version from Spider-Men of other dimensions.

Scratching his head in confusion, Peter decided to follow Stark.

Arriving at the familiar laboratory, Peter sneaked a peek at Stark's experiment logs while he was away. Spotting the data that had previously eluded him, Peter finally realized he was indeed in his dimension's future.

Because he knew that in other spaces, Dr. Connors was the Lizard Man, their enemy. But now, the experiment documents clearly indicated that Connors was the one in charge of the project.

Furthermore, before Peter left, he had been conducting these experiments. He was intimately familiar with every data point, and finding no discrepancy between the details and his memories, he was certain this was not another dimension.

What confused him the most was that Stark seemed unaware of his journey to the Multiverse. Could it be that Stark had lost his memory?

While Peter was contemplating this, Stark, having removed his armor, entered the room and said, "What's the deal with those two friends of yours? Forgive my directness, but have they gone a bit mad? Not only do their combat suits resemble yours, even their voices and appearances are similar to you. I thought they were your relatives."

"They... well, they are indeed my fans. Perhaps... they've imitated me for so long that they've come to resemble me," Peter tried to explain, because he couldn't tell Stark that they were also Spider-Men.

Stark remarked sarcastically, "I don't have such ardent imitators. I've been a bit busy and haven't had a chance to swing by New York. It seems the citizens of New York are quickly forgetting the mighty Iron Man."

After saying this, Stark left. Just as Peter was trying to figure out what was going on, a portal suddenly lit up in mid-air.

Strange stepped out of the portal, speaking as he walked, "Hasn't Schiller returned yet, Stark? I have a task for him... Oh, Peter, you're here. I thought you'd gone to class."

"Of course I'm here. Wait... What did you just say? Schiller?"

Strange was momentarily taken aback by Peter's tone, sizing him up as he asked, "What about Schiller?"

Suddenly, as if a realization struck him, Strange said, "Did Schiller tell you something? Whatever he said, just pretend you didn't hear it..."

"Schiller... Dr. Schiller... Where is he now?!" Peter asked excitedly, then hesitated, muttering, "No, it can't be. I thought he was..."

Strange gave Spider-Man an odd look, and Peter persisted, "Dr. Schiller, isn't he dead? Where is he now?"

"Why would he be dead? Didn't he go on vacation again? Just like before, he disappears for over a month at a time..."

Peter was utterly bewildered. Logically, if he was in the future and Schiller was alive, it meant he never died. It might sound redundant, but someone can't die in the past and still be alive in the future. Yet Peter was certain he had witnessed Schiller's death.

Furthermore, Strange's behavior seemed off. It was as if they were hiding something. Peter wanted to ask more, but Strange hurried away as if on an urgent matter.

Confused, Peter was then approached by Amazing Spider-Man, who said, "I can't believe the robots that this world's Iron Man has built... My God, can those robots really be controlled? I saw them take Ultimate Spider-Man to a weird medical pod. Can that thing really heal?"

Peter was still in a daze. The Amazing Spider-Man knew that Peter was deeply affected because he had gone through the same thing and knew how to comfort him.

He walked over and put an arm around Peter's shoulder, "Don't dwell on the bad things. Show me around your universe. It seems quite different here."

"Oh, it is. Perhaps... because of Dr. Schiller," Peter replied, looking out the window, "He did a lot and brought about many changes. He was a great man. He shouldn't have..."

"Let's swing around New York and see if there's anyone in need of help. With you gone for so long, there might be criminals causing chaos in New York."

The Amazing Spider-Man tried to divert Peter's attention. The two of them went to the window, and the Amazing Spider-Man shot a web and swung out, with Peter instinctively following.

The New York sky was still brilliantly blue. The gentle breeze of late autumn brushed Peter's face, but it felt chillingly cold. It was only when the Amazing Spider-Man shouted in surprise that Peter's focus returned.

"My God, what is that?"

Following his gaze, Peter saw a small figure leaping between high-rise buildings. But instead of webs, he was using four mechanical tentacles. The Amazing Spider-Man yelled:

"Doctor Octopus! Stop!"

The narrative continues...

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 703: A Grand Incident (Part 19)