123 Chapter 123
[Quantum Insight]
Mark's eyes entered a quantum state, and he began to observe the energy changes within Miles and the Ultimate Spider-Man.
Although Miles and the Spider-Man of this ultimate universe both seemed like "technological products" resulting from being bitten by genetically mutated spiders, ultimately, their powers originated from the "Spider Totem."
After going through numerous worlds' ordeals, especially the time in the Lizard Spider-World where he had altered the fates of Andrew-Spider, Adult Andrew Spider, and Demon Andrew Spider and etc, his power had been greatly enhanced.
The strengthening of his power enabled him to a certain extent to observe the "Spider Totem" within the other Spider-Men—because the Spider Totem is the manifestation of the power of destiny. It creates the Spider-Men and allows the Master Weaver to connect them through a vast web.
Currently, in his field of vision, Miles' Spider Totem was vibrant, filled with activity, while the Spider Totem within the Ultimate Spider-Man was gradually dimming.
Clearly, his life was fading.
In theory, each Spider Totem has its unique characteristics, and they are one-of-a-kind. However, it doesn't mean they don't share some connectivity.
Or, rather, they can't possess some shared attributes.
Mark's intention right now was to transfer a part of the "immortality" attribute from Miles' Spider Totem into the body of the Ultimate Spider-Man.
This procedure might make Miles a bit weakened for a while, but after some rest, he should recover without any complications. As for whether the Ultimate Spider-Man could obtain immortality, that was uncertain.
This method was somewhat similar to plant grafting techniques.
In plant grafting, a branch or bud from one plant is attached to the stem or root of another plant, causing the two parts to grow into a single, complete plant. This allows the new plant to have improved taste, survival capabilities, and other features.
But "destiny" is thousands of times more complex than the growth of a plant. Mark didn't expect significant results.
However, even if the Ultimate Spider-Man couldn't possess immortality permanently, he could temporarily gain it.
Reviving the Ultimate Spider-Man shouldn't be difficult before this characteristic faded away.
This "operation" was more complex than any surgery in the world.
It was even more exhausting than the time when Mark had meticulously removed the mutant genes from Gwen Stacy's body, which had almost turned her into the Lizard Woman.
Fortunately, Mark's physical condition had been significantly enhanced through multiple enhancements.
He managed to persevere through it all.
"Whew," Mark breathed out a long sigh, and his body swayed for a moment, nearly toppling to the ground.
Gwen quickly caught him, ignoring the dirt on the ground, and sat down, letting Mark rest against her soft embrace.
"Very comfortable," Mark muttered softly, his eyelids half-lowered.
Gwen shot him an annoyed glance but couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She didn't push him away, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and even massaged his head with her small hand.
On the other side, Aaron Davis also sat down and held Miles.
Miles' complexion had taken a hit as well. His face had turned somewhat pale, particularly his lips, which now exhibited white shades.
"Miles?" Aaron Davis, too, held his nephew with concern.
However, Miles wasn't worried about his own condition; he kept looking at the Ultimate Spider-Man lying on the ground and asked Mark, "How is Mr. Parker? When will he get better? If what we did wasn't enough, I can do more."
"Shut up, Miles!" Aaron Davis firmly interrupted his nephew's wild ideas. "Look at your own condition now, you can't!"
Aaron usually engaged in combat training with Miles to enhance his combat abilities. So he knew how physically tough his nephew was. Despite being young, Miles' muscles, when tensed, were as hard as steel plates. Ordinary punches landing on him would probably hurt the one throwing them more.
But now, as Aaron held Miles in his arms, he felt Miles' body was weak and limp, as if he was back to how he had been before gaining superpowers.
If it weren't for knowing that Mark wouldn't harm Miles and witnessing Mark's currently poor condition, Aaron Davis would have been furious!
Mark weakly chuckled, "Calm down, Miles, there's no need to be so anxious. As the saying goes, 'Do your best and leave the rest to fate.' We've done all we can; what happens next is up to fate."
Following that, the four of them divided into two groups and sat quietly on either side, waiting for a miracle to occur.
"Please, please, Mr. Parker, you have to get better," Miles whispered under his breath, continually praying.
"Miles, how about telling us about your experiences over the past few months? After Kingpin's downfall, did you encounter any challenging adversaries?" Mark noticed Miles' nervousness and changed the subject.
As expected, Miles' attention was shifted. He began sharing his experiences from the last few months.
However, maybe due to the underground organization connected to Kingpin being wiped out, there hadn't been many major villains causing trouble over the past few months.
During this time, Miles led a fairly typical life: going to school, switching into his battle costume when trouble arose, and training with Aaron Davis during his free time.
It had to be admitted that he lived a fulfilling life.
Moreover, he appeared to be more skilled than the original Spider-Man who largely had to figure things out on his own. Although the original version had an uncle who gave him a life-changing quote, having a living uncle fighting alongside him definitely seemed more advantageous.
"Speaking of Octavius, has she appeared again after that day?" Mark suddenly remembered the middle-aged lady who claimed to follow him and inquired.
Miles shook his head slightly, "I haven't seen her again since that day. She probably left the city, right?"
Aaron Davis asked, "Why did you suddenly think of her? This woman is a dangerous individual; she was the one who researched and developed Kingpin's particle collider. By the way, your ability to travel through time and space, if she found out, she might target you. Miles, keep it a secret, okay?"
Miles hurriedly nodded, looking at Mark, "Don't worry, I haven't told anyone about knowing you, let alone your abilities."
Mark nodded.
He wanted to say that actually, Doctor Octopus had known about his abilities for quite some time.
Of course, she figured it out through rigorous data analysis, not guesswork.
After all, even villains have culture, right?
However, Mark wasn't afraid of Doctor Octopus anymore.
Back when he had just gained his powers, he had been confident in escaping from her grasp.
Now, he was absolutely certain he could take her down!
This was the confidence of having a trump card up your sleeve.
---
New York City, in the suburbs, within an abandoned underground facility.
This place had originally been one of Kingpin's secret laboratories, but after Kingpin's demise, it had been taken over by Doctor Octopus.
Witnessing the body decay and quantum collapse of interdimensional beings due to the particle collider a few months ago had temporarily quashed her plans of using the particle collider to explore the mysteries of parallel universes.
However, her encounter with Mark, a person with the ability to travel across time and space, opened a new avenue for her.
She wanted to study Mark to gain the ability to traverse time and space.
So, she willingly provided him with a carefully crafted batch of nanometal particles, and some of these particles had been tampered with.
This tampering wasn't malign; it simply bestowed one simple yet powerful ability: the power to attract and interact with the nanometal particles in her own body.
This was the secret behind her mechanical tentacles' elongation and regeneration.
Because this was a peculiar metal with a certain level of liveliness and extremely rare, she had added only a small portion to her own mechanical tentacles.
The rest had been invested in that extraordinary multiverse traveler.
In retrospect, she often thought that everything she had done might have been a huge gamble.
At a great cost, she was betting on a slim possibility.
Perhaps he would never return to this world.
Or perhaps he wouldn't even be interested in her.
But she didn't want to give up.
Because this was a chance to truly touch the multiverse!
And just at that moment, her mechanical tentacles suddenly twitched!
"What happened?" Doctor Octopus was taken aback. Her mechanical tentacles had long been mentally connected to her, so the sensation of sudden loss of control was extremely rare.
But in the next moment, she realized.
There was only one person who could trigger an automatic response in the active metal within her mechanical tentacles!
Because she had given most of the active metal to Mark, the active metal on Mark's suit acted like a "mother." Whenever the mother entity appeared, the "child entities" on her would naturally react.
"Oh yes, it's him. He's back!" Doctor Octopus's eyes lit up, and she immediately put down the experiment she was working on. She tied up her hair and dashed out of the lab, heading in the direction of New York City.
---
In the city, on a rooftop.
Mark had no idea that Doctor Octopus had tampered with what she gave him.
He had already carefully checked the equipment from the Ultimate Spider-Man world to make sure there were no "additional ingredients."
However, this active metal was a benign substance. It could enhance the suit's abilities, and it was still part of the nanometal, so it hadn't been detected even in the Spider-Verse world.
So it wasn't surprising that Mark hadn't noticed.
At this moment, they were chatting casually, with Mark providing a few tidbits about his own experiences.
However, under normal circumstances, Mark wouldn't take people along on his trips.
After all, he'd have to bring them back, and that could be quite a hassle!
He wasn't a tour guide for a sightseeing tour!
Of course, Gwen was an exception.
She was family.
And just when everyone was deep in conversation, a soft hum was heard in the background.
°°°
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