Peter opened the software. The first thing on the screen was a disclaimer that no Spider-Man would have the patience to read. Of course, he couldn't be bothered to read it either, so he just scrolled to the bottom and clicked agree.
The software didn't have many functions; it had built-in navigation, an electronic guidebook for reference, and a personal interface. Peter played around with the navigation first, but he found it was actually a modified version of the spaceship's navigation, more user-friendly but slightly less accurate. For instance, it could only show which orbit within the Solar System they were on, and there was a bit of lag in the movement trajectory, making it less precise.
Then there was the guidebook, but before he could read it carefully, Miles elbowed him and said, "Hey, why us?"
"You don't want to go?"
"Of course not, I'm just curious. For exploring and gathering data, don't we have drones for that?"
Peter sighed and said, "Haven't you started at community college? Didn't you learn about the structure of the cosmos there?"
"You probably have some misunderstandings about community college. Yesterday, I just learned how to bake a cake from a mix."
"Alright. The Milky Way is huge, so big that even if we sent all human ships and drones, we couldn't explore every spot. That's why we need everyone to go this time, even those students who haven't graduated from Magic Academy and the newcomers who just recently awakened their superpowers."
"I see," Miles said, "Why not look for help in the Multiverse?"
"Do you think all those Spider-Men are from our universe?"
"No, I mean, why just Spider-Man?"
"Because only we are relatively free. The other universes still have a bunch of things waiting for them to do. If we call the entire Avengers team, what if something happens in New York?"
"Oh, right." Miles nodded and said, "While we can float in space, we can't fly. Without a spaceship, how are we supposed to get there?"
"They should figure something out," Peter glanced at Shiller in front of them and said, "Right now, humanity lacks everything; we're short on people, money, equipment. To get everything ready, even Doctor Shiller would have to work hard."
"Even if he gets spaceships, there's no way everyone can have their own. Plus, that's not safe; forming small teams is probably necessary. Should we team up?"
"Well, we could, but two people might not be enough. Who else do you want to bring in?"
"I don't know, you know more Spider-Men than I do. Just the other day, I found out that in another universe, a version of me went to college and is a top student."
Peter laughed and said, "Once you get your community college diploma, maybe you can apply to a university. I remember New York University has some aid programs."
"No way." Miles shook his head and said, "I don't want to study math, physics, or mechanical engineering. I'm planning to attend a baking school and open my own dessert shop in New York."
"That's a good idea," Peter raised an eyebrow and said, "but you have to think it through. Rent in New York is expensive. If you can't sell your stuff, you'll lose money."
As they were talking, they heard Shiller on stage say, "You have three days to prepare, and you need to form teams of 3 to 5 members yourselves. In three days, a batch of small spaceships will arrive at Neptune Port."
"Small spaceships? Are they built by us?"
"I don't think so. Aren't we building large mining equipment lately?"
"Were they bought, then?"
"Maybe, but where did the money come from? And I've heard Earth is pretty remote; it's surprising they'd be willing to deliver here."
The crowd below chattered away, discussing where this batch of small spaceships came from. Steve gave Stark a look, and Stark shook his head, so Steve understood—if Stark didn't know, then these ships might as well be air at this point.
However, getting a batch of small spaceships in three days wasn't even considered a warm-up for Shiller. Don't think he doesn't know that those four troublemakers went to soak in the hot springs under the World Tree again—it only takes one soak to undo a thousand years of progress of the Three Great Empires, dropping several points off the universe's quality scale.
"Additionally, there might be some helpers from other universes arriving tomorrow or the day after. Don't rush to form teams; wait and see, you might find better partners. However, I also want to remind you, each team must have a Captain and a first mate. Even though most spaceships have autopilot functions, you should take this time to learn some basic piloting knowledge..."
Most people didn't listen to the second half of the sentence; everyone's focus was on the first half. Miles lowered his voice and said, "See, I told you, we need help from other universes."
"But I doubt it's the Avengers; during the last debriefing meeting, they were arguing fiercely." Peter shook his head.
"Do you think it might be from the neighboring world?"
"No way," Peter said in surprise, "We just fought a war."
"But don't forget, during the debriefing meeting, they praised the other side to the heavens," Miles smacked his lips and said, "People are like that; sometimes they admire opponents more than teammates. Do you think Batman will come?"
"It's unlikely; the situation in Gotham is worse. They don't have that much time. Hopefully, it's not Constantine," Peter sighed, "Thinking about last time's Multiverse war, Batman planned meticulously but got ruined by this guy, I feel it's quite unfortunate."
"Actually, I don't want to work with Batman, either. He always seems so serious," Miles said, resting his chin on his hand, "When he stands there, I don't even dare to speak, and the team atmosphere will surely suffer."
"It's not like you have to team up with Batman; we can find someone else," Peter looked at Miles and said, "I doubt anyone from the neighboring world can pilot a spaceship. If we don't learn properly, we might get split apart."
"Then you go learn, I'm an idiot, I'll go home and bake some cakes," Miles studied the patterns on the table.
"Alright, that's it for now." Shiller closed the memo and said, "If you have any questions, definitely send me a message, don't just mess around on your own. Go back and take a good look at the guide, don't embarrass yourself in front of friends from the neighboring universes..."
The meeting quickly ended, and people started leaving in groups of two or three. Just as Peter and Miles were heading out, a voice called out behind them:
"Peter Parker! Wait for me!"
Peter turned his head and saw Polaris rushing over.
"What's up, Lorna?"
"Have you found your teammates yet?" Polaris asked.
"Not yet, I'm planning to team up with Miles."
"Can you include me?"
Peter said a bit surprised, "You're not teaming up with the mutants?"
"Don't mention it. Iceman and Quicksilver both want to be on my team. It's hard to refuse either of them, but putting them together in a team would definitely lead to a fight. So I thought I'd just find my own team to avoid the hassle."
"You really should sort out your love life," Peter couldn't help but say, "At this rate, who will you invite to your wedding?"
"I know, I will." Polaris sounded dismissive, but she still tried to pitch herself, saying, "I know neither of you can pilot a spaceship. It's not something you learn in a day or two, especially since we don't even know the new ship model and don't know where to start."
"Are you saying you can?"
"I can't pilot a spaceship, but I can run holding onto one." Polaris said this very seriously, seemingly unaware of how outrageous she sounded, "That's how I did it in the Andromeda Galaxy. No need to mess with those complex control panels, just use the magnetic field to carry the ship and go, trust me, it's really fast."
"Of course, I'm certainly not going to doubt the speed of a magnetic field able piloting a spaceship. But have you considered safety?"
"That's why I'm here to find you guys, isn't it? You have Spider-sense to warn me, so we can avoid dangerous celestial bodies in time, it's simply a match made in heaven!"
"You really don't need more of a match made in heaven, lady. But, the team-up is worth considering. Are you free tonight? Wanna come to my base and talk?"
"Sure, where's your base?"
"I'll send you the address later."
Just then, Shiller happened to walk past them, and Peter quickly called out to him, "Hey, Doctor."
"What's up, Peter?"
"Did you buy alien spaceships? Do they deliver?"
"Of course, don't view things with an old mindset. The Milky Way is about to become the capital, those merchants will scramble to run there, whoever pioneers mature trade routes first will make a fortune. But the Nine Major Kingdoms are not easy to access; if you can use a batch of spaceships to exchange for a permit, they'd fight over it."
Peter immediately understood where this batch of spaceships came from—must be some conscientious merchants who care about the cosmos voluntarily sponsoring. But he still asked, "Is the quantity enough? This time we're going all over every corner of the Milky Way."
"I only ordered 3,000, but it's almost enough. This is the latest Flying Bird Class Type 32 mini spaceship from the Leta Civilization. It's selling like hotcakes as soon as it launched, with sales breaking over a hundred million across the cosmos. This time a client canceled, and that's how we got lucky. But to be safe, we'll have someone escort them the whole way."
"That's good. I'll go back and check out this spaceship, see if there's any pilot training or something. I'm off now, Doctor, bye-bye."
Shiller waved to him. Just then, his phone rang, and when he opened it, it was a message from Magneto:
"The goods have been received. Expected delivery tomorrow."
"Got it, thanks for your hard work."
Magneto put away the phone, looking at the small spaceships being boxed sequentially in the dock, his face expressionless. But if someone familiar with him was nearby, they'd notice he was quite satisfied.
In contrast, the shipyard owner was sweating profusely. When the humans said they were sending someone to escort continuously, he hadn't realized the seriousness of the issue. But feeling the iconic magnetic storm, seeing that familiar helmet, he almost sat down on the spot.
It's just a few thousand small spaceships, is it necessary?
But soon he figured it out: there aren't many pirates in the cosmos daring to rob from the Leta Civilization, mutants are the only ones, and if Magneto transforms into a Guardian, this batch is thoroughly safe.
Moreover, this batch of ships was never paid for, so even if Magneto came to rob, they wouldn't lose anything. With this thought, the shipyard owner reluctantly relaxed.
However, to placate this terrible star, he proactively offered a heap of freebies, like hundreds of sets of auto-expanding hangars, gravity recovery devices, low-temperature cabins, etc.
And as those mountain-like behemoth containers were hoisted onto the enormous, nearly invisible boundary giant cargo ship, and slowly lifted into the air amid airflow, the first trade route to the Milky Way was gradually extending.
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