Chapter 26: The Unbearable Responsibility

According to Ang, was a strange insistence rooted in history.

Of course, he knew it sounded a bit ridiculous, especially given the situation where zombie heroes from the zombie universe could cross over. It was entirely possible for multiple Spider-Men from parallel universes to assemble.

However, just the thought of the three Spider-Men who were thriving in "Spider-Man: Heroes Without Return" turning into something else in this world made him feel uneasy. He figured it would be better to involve Peter Parker early.

That's why he secretly snuck into Gwen's room and, luckily, found the mutated spider still alive. He chose to lure this world's Peter over.

Everything resulted from the choices made at the door of destiny (stone)!

But for the Lanz sisters, some extraordinary bloodline strengthening was already on Angqi's schedule. This merged world was too dangerous, and girls like them, primarily skilled in martial arts, would be cannon fodder in the mid-term. Fortunately, with Angqi's and Tony's relationship, it wouldn't be impossible to get them a couple of Iron Man suits for protection when things got really tough.

As a "money power," why not rely on technology if you can't handle it with brute force?

Meanwhile, Gwen was in distress. It was just her instinct as a researcher to collect the remains of the mutated spider that killed Peter and freeze them after dealing with her mother. However, she was visibly conflicted.

After some perfunctory conversation with her mother, she returned to her room and kept muttering to herself:

"Damn it! How did he get involved in this mess?"

"Isn't the trouble he causes me enough?"

"What if he also becomes Spider-Man?"

"Should I team up with him?"

"No, no, no, that guy is a bit unreliable."

Extremely conflicted, after having dinner, Gwen decided to pretend to study in her room and then secretly go find Parker.

She put on the black and white Spider-Woman suit. While the oversized-eyed headgear might look silly to others, it effectively concealed Gwen's identity.

She first checked Peter's room as usual and, as expected, he wasn't there. Gwen began to extend her perception, searching for Peter throughout the area.

Her guess was correct; Peter had indeed started mutating on the bus. Suddenly waking up from an unexpected slumber, he made a commotion on the bus. In desperation, he jumped onto the roof, causing chaos among the passengers. He had to get off the bus and hide in an abandoned factory.

Amazed by his newfound abilities, Peter began to explore the various powers of Spider-Man, such as tiny hooks that could emerge from his fingertips, allowing him to effortlessly climb vertical walls. He also discovered the ability to shoot webs from his wrist...

"Wow! Isn't this Spider-Woman's ability? Could it be... Gwen is Spider-Woman!?" Peter rejoiced, easily grasping the truth of the situation.

As Peter was ecstatic about his new abilities and breaking free from his boring and depressing life as a weakling, Gwen suddenly made a discovery.

"Thunk!"

The crisp sound of bricks hitting something behind her caught Gwen's attention.

She turned around suddenly, asking cautiously, "Peter?"

They were on the rooftop of an abandoned factory, and the only iron staircase leading up had long since collapsed due to disrepair. Gwen couldn't imagine an ordinary person making their way up here.

Similarly, Gwen couldn't be mistaken about the sound of Spider-Man's webbing sticking to the stone wall.

Through a triangular gable, Gwen heard faint footsteps. She stood with her hands on her hips, a little annoyed as she addressed her childhood friend behind the roof, "Peter! I don't know how to say this to you. It's all just an accident. I got bitten by that mutated spider, and this is what happened to me. Now, it looks like you're going through the same thing... I don't know what the future holds for us, or if this power is safe. Anyway, let's figure it out together."

"Peter..."

Although Peter's voice was hoarse and had a strange, uncomfortable tone, it was undoubtedly his voice.

Peter played mysterious, which annoyed Gwen. She put her hands on her hips and raised her voice, "What are you doing? Blaming me? Even if it was the spider that I hid, weren't you in the wrong for entering my room in the first place? That's a girl's private space! Privacy! Privacy! Don't you understand that? Don't blame me for getting bitten; ultimately, it's your fault for invading my room!"

There was no response, only a very strange wheezing sound.

It felt like Peter was operating a broken bellows.

"Hey, Peter! If you have something to say, say it to my face. Responsibility is 1:9, no, at most 2:8. You're at 2, and I'm at 8!"

At this point, Gwen saw Peter's disheveled hair peeking out from the rooftop. However, something didn't feel right to her.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Her heart raced uncontrollably!

"Snap!" The next second, a hand clad in a red spiderweb-patterned glove rested on the steel frame of the roof. However, this hand gave Gwen a strange, rigid feeling.

Peter partially emerged, and it was indeed his face, with that prominent forehead. There was no mistaking it.

"Peter, what are you doing? Is your mutation going haywire?" Gwen said suddenly.

She was worried. If she had successfully mutated while Peter, her childhood friend, had failed, she would never forgive herself. Even though every sensory organ in her body was sending alarms, the intense guilt still made her act recklessly.

"Peter, I..."

"Gwen..." If Peter's earlier murmurs had a hint of warmth, his current voice was harsh and had an eerie quality, like it came from the depths of a hungry hell.

Gwen suddenly hesitated. No, this wasn't an illusion! It seemed like he wanted to eat me!?

Her nerves tightened to the extreme, and she stopped in her tracks, standing about five paces away from Peter.

The night breeze carried a thick, foul odor, and Gwen's pupils contracted sharply.

Something was wrong! This Peter was definitely not right!

Even though it was dimly lit, Gwen's Spider-Man-enhanced night vision allowed her to finally see how Peter had changed.

He was on all fours, clinging to the roof, with his chest almost touching it, like a real spider.

The critical point was that his face was rotting!

Not the kind of situation where chunks of flesh fell off after exposure to poison gas, but it was clear that his decay had been going on for a long time. There was even something resembling moss growing on his broken cheeks.

He had lost his nose, and a horrific triangular hole remained in the center of his face.

When the upper half of his face, still covered in skin, fully entered Gwen's field of vision, she couldn't help but scream.

"Ah!"

After all, Gwen had been a high school student until recently, dealing with nothing more than street thugs. She had never encountered real monsters.

Overwhelmed by fear and confusion, she screamed uncontrollably in that moment.

It was in that split second of distraction that the zombie Peter pounced at her.

When she regained her senses and tried to dodge by leaning backward, his foul-smelling claws had already caught onto her hood.

"Hiss!"

Gwen was extremely grateful for the quality of the outfit she had sewn herself. It wasn't very good, but at least the entire hood was torn off, and a large piece of clothing from behind her left shoulder blade was also ripped away.

Not only that, the terrifying Peter reached out with his other hand.

Gwen quickly kicked off the ground, narrowly avoiding a fate of being disemboweled by a swipe.

Gwen's eyes widened—did he really want to kill me!?

Fear, confusion, and heartache swirled through her mind.

If it weren't for the fear that she couldn't predict the movements of the zombie Peter and would end up dead, Gwen would never have been willing to stare at the rotting face of her childhood friend.

"Peter, I'm... sorry! I didn't...," Gwen suddenly apologized.

But the attacks kept coming, one after another, and in just a few moments, Gwen felt like she couldn't breathe.

She had no choice but to shoot webs from her right hand to propel herself away.

However, just then, two clumps of webbing flew towards her. After three loud "cracks," the most unbelievable thing happened—one of the webbing clumps blocked Gwen from reaching the opposite building, while the other two hit her left and right hands, completely sealing her ability to shoot webs.

Keep in mind, Gwen was in mid-air when she was thrown!

"Ah!" Gwen screamed as she fell.

This was the fourth floor!

Gwen struggled to adjust her posture mid-air, barely managing to land on a trash can.

"Bang!"

The intense pain in her back almost knocked her over.

It was only through sheer willpower that she managed to struggle to her feet and run!

No one understood Spider-Man better than Spider-Man himself.

Zombie Peter didn't allow her to shoot webs, effectively shutting down her ability to escape quickly.

Gwen knew that ordinary people were useless against Spider-Man. She had to find help, someone powerful enough to deal with Spider-Man.

The first person who came to mind was Iron Man, as he was the only superhero in all of New York with a publicly known identity.

But it seemed like Tony was currently at his mansion in Florida?

Without much time to think, several clumps of webbing flew at her again.

Gwen narrowly dodged them but realized that Zombie Peter was using Spider-Man's agility to chase her between the buildings behind her.

Gwen's senses were on high alert, and finally, she sensed a powerful presence.

Without further thought, Gwen sprinted through an entire abandoned block and finally reached an open area.

"Huh?"

"Um?"

It was a man with a heavily religious-themed red lightning tattoo on his body, a bald man with a pale complexion and a goatee.

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