A golden light tore through the gloomy sky like a divine punishment.
Under the gaze of countless people, Ian's eyes erupted with a light as dazzling as the sun, completely engulfing the grotesque spider monster. In that moment, the entire neighborhood seemed to have been paused.
On the streets, countless upturned faces were plated in gold.
In everyone's eyes was a scene that was hard for them to believe—perhaps even years later, the people present would still not forget what happened today.
A boy descended from the sky.
Without anger or rage.
With an overwhelming force and the posture of a god descending to the mortal world, he instantly destroyed the evil existence that everyone had thought unconquerable.
At this moment, everyone seemed to understand a principle. perhaps the city could have avoided burning, but their own cowardice had become the best accelerant. The burning high-rises, the streets littered with corpses, the torn-apart families—they all actually had a chance to avoid complete disaster.
"If only we had a little more... courage."
Someone whispered softly.
"Boom! RUMBLE!"
Amidst a deafening explosion, the spider monster's body was torn apart, turning into countless burning fragments that plummeted from the sky. Many charred small spiders rained down on the streets from the monster's shattered body.
They hit the ground, making a spine-chilling "crackle" sound. Most of the thumb-sized spiders had already been instantly killed along with their unknown father or mother.
However, under Ian's intentional control, a small number of spiders mistakenly believed themselves to be survivors. They fled frantically across the street, about to attack the passersby and police.
But this time, the sun had perhaps dispelled the gloom.
People no longer ran away and hid, no longer hoping to be the lucky survivor. They began to resist the attacks of the small spiders together.
Someone raised a fire extinguisher.
Someone else picked up a nearby old lady.
It was perhaps a bit chaotic, but the police also began to perform their duties.
It was as if something was being awakened.
It was not just courage.
"This Prince can't beat an octopus, but I can't beat you little things?" Thor, the God of Thunder, slammed his hammer onto the ground, and a large wave of electric arcs instantly surged and spread, electrocuting swaths of small spiders.
This was the heroic appearance of him conquering the Nine Realms in his dreams.
Of course, reality still needed to be addressed.
"Everyone see? Besides being a chef, I'm also a small bug extermination expert. Check out the Son of Odin Western Restaurant! You definitely won't find even a single cockroach in my restaurant!" Thor's booming voice echoed on the street. He shook his long golden hair, and while rescuing passersby, he still didn't forget his Western restaurant.
On the other side, Captain America, Steve Rogers, waved the shield that hadn't been used in actual combat for a long time—it had almost become a mere decoration—and slammed it hard onto the ground. The shield collided with the ground, making a huge sound and kicking up plumes of dust. Although time had left its mark on him, his fighting style was still as impressive as ever.
"Damn it! Why are they trying to crawl into my shorts! These are the lace shorts the sponsor lent me!" He still seemed to be the old 50/50 fighter, evenly matched even with the small spiders.
The scene was very intense.
"You did that on purpose? You could have destroyed all the spiders inside that monster." Gwen leaned on the ground, facing the boy who was looking up at the sky.
"It was a test."
Ian was looking up at the sky not because he liked to show off, but because he was counting how many pieces the spider monster had exploded into, while also waiting for feedback from his System.
"A test to see if humanity is worthy of having a superhero like you?" Gwen was also someone who was good at overthinking, but her speculation didn't deviate to the level of Doctor Strange.
Gwen, who had personally fought the spider monster, was the one who knew Ian's strength best.
The entity that had instantly defeated her was instantly defeated by this boy.
Gwen could feel how powerful the force erupting from his eyes was.
"No, I was just testing whether the depths of their souls, where they displayed their flaws, still held humanity's finest virtues." Ian still hadn't received the System's feedback.
He figured the System was just playing hard to get.
What about a new Profession?
Or give me something else, too.
"If people didn't pass the test, what would you do?" Gwen had to care about this question, after all, she knew exactly how powerful the other party was.
And his mind was slightly... flawed.
There was nothing more dangerous than that.
"If they didn't pass the test, then I'd be having a blast—Mr. Ian guarantees that all the cowards in this world will be able to eat bread that costs 500,000 USD each starting tomorrow."
"No one would dare to resist me, and I would definitely make a fortune from it." Ian naturally understood that inflation would lead to currency devaluation, but nobody said the money he earned in this world couldn't be used in the DC Universe.
Economic wisdom should be used in a place like this.
"..."
Gwen was instantly speechless.
As she just said, she really couldn't grasp the strange logic of the boy in front of her.
"Damn System, I saw you absorb something, but you got your fill and won't give me any? You won't even give me an External Spirit Bone?"
Ian questioned the System, but it still didn't respond, so he managed to convince himself—the wild spider monster must not have been old enough.
It couldn't produce a Spirit Bone.
"DING!"
Perhaps because Ian gave the System a way out, the System was quite appreciative.
[Alien Species Data Analysis complete. New General Data has been added for you—Mimicry Armor.] Perhaps the System also understood human relations, or maybe it truly was analyzing the data.
Regardless, Ian finally got the reward he had been yearning for.
[Mimicry Armor: One set of Mimicry Data is currently recorded. The host can use their own magical power to construct the alien species' physiological features on or inside their body at any time.]
"I knew I could still consistently get stronger in the new world." Ian immediately tested the ability, and eight somewhat illusory spider legs instantly appeared on his back. Although they were only a simulated armor attached to the surface of his body, Ian could still feel a flexible, effortless control over them.
"Then again, although the spider monster was young, it grew up eating growth-hormone-fed beef and vegetables, so it's perfectly normal for it to mature early and provide me with an External Spirit Bone."
This time, it was Ian's turn to find a way out for himself. The eight spider legs attached to his back successfully held eight pens under his control. At this moment, he knew he had truly gained a divine skill.
Ian was having a blast experimenting.
The people nearby who had been pretending to be dead couldn't help but crawl further away.
"Damn it! Were you infected?"
Gwen was also terrified and was about to scramble backward.
However, she wasn't as fast as Ian.
"I just got into being an Evil God recently, it's perfectly normal to grow a few spider legs on my back." Ian forcibly helped Gwen up, taking the opportunity to touch the blood on her body.
However, there was still no prompt for a new Profession unlock, not even a prompt that a dormant Profession had been discovered. Of course, this was actually within Ian's predictions.
He still remembered the information in Tony's message.
To obtain a Profession in the new world, he would probably have to rely on these superheroes returning to normal. It was precisely because he realized this that Ian was so eager to come and act as an enlightener.
"An Evil God wouldn't save me. You must not have taken enough of your medicine." Seeing that Ian did not attack, Gwen was relieved but couldn't help but blurt out.
Fragments of memory seemed to surface in her mind.
She felt like she often told him to take his medicine.
This damned sense of familiarity.
"I never have enough medicine—in fact, that's how you become an Evil God. You have to ensure there are superheroes in this world. Otherwise, if I lose the people who dare to point at my nose and respectfully call me God, then the world wouldn't know I'm an Evil God." Ian tested the attack power of the spider legs on the nearby concrete.
The legs grew in the right place on his back.
The effect was exceptional.
They were even sharper and more pointed than when the spider monster used them.
"What do you say? Aren't you going to praise me?" Ian didn't dismiss his skill. He even used the phantom-like spider legs to help Gwen up.
"Why are you helping me up upside down? Is it because you're an Evil God and can't tell my hands from my feet?" Gwen was completely confused after being helped up.
She was currently in a handstand posture, supporting herself with her hands on the ground.
Her eyes could only see Ian's knees.
"Nonsense! I just saw that your legs were broken, so you definitely couldn't stand on them. I'm just letting you make do with your hands." Ian felt his good intentions were being treated like dirt.
His explanation plunged Gwen into silence.
"You can just leave me on the ground... the ambulance should be here soon." Gwen looked into the distance. All the small spiders had been annihilated by the collective efforts of the crowd.
Her father, Police Chief George, was helping the injured while glancing over at her.
"It's lacking in ritual to not help your teammate and show your bond after a major battle. By the way, are you considering believing in the Great God Ian?"
"I can heal your injuries in minutes." Ian still used impeccable logic to shut Gwen up, and incidentally sent her an enthusiastic invitation.
"No need, thank you."
The girl's expression shifted for a moment.
"It's getting dark, why haven't you disappeared yet?" She had clearly summarized some rules about Ian's appearances and disappearances from their previous encounters.
"Soon. I'll return to my lair in one minute. It has lots of evil things collected. I'll take a picture for you when I have time." Ian dismissed his [Mimicry Armor], took out half a phone, and checked the time. This trip to Marvel had been fruitful, only lacking the unlock of a new Profession.
It was a slight pity.
"Thank you for saving me, and for saving everyone." Seeing Ian about to leave, Gwen sincerely thanked him. Her tone also carried a hint of frustration.
"I thought I could handle that monster."
Gwen's voice was filled with remorse.
"Beginners are all like this, don't be discouraged. I'm sure you've realized the principle that with great power comes great responsibility." Ian still wanted to harvest a new Profession from Gwen one last time.
He probed while aggressively pouring out 'chicken soup' wisdom.
Gwen blinked, her golden eyelashes fluttering beneath the bloodstains.
"With great power comes great responsibility. I didn't think you could say something so profound." She was clearly moved, as if she understood why Ian had intervened.
This boy might be mentally unsound, but he clearly had a very righteous heart.
"I am a writer, after all."
Ian replied.
And secretly reached out his hand.
"Why are you touching me?"
Gwen, who had been touched, suddenly noticed Ian lifting his hand and vigorously rubbing it on her face.
"It's not important."
Ian hadn't expected to fail to unlock a new Profession even after plagiarizing and uttering a famous quote. Still somewhat unwilling to give up, he continued to speak.
"Listen, Gwen, one failure doesn't mean all failures. What's important is that you have the heart of a superhero—it's the true seed in this new world."
These words weren't entirely 'chicken soup'; they came from Ian's own deduction. He rubbed the bloodstain on Gwen's face again, still failing to harvest what he wanted.
"I still don't understand what you're saying, but I think I can figure it out myself... See you tomorrow?" Gwen saw Ian's body beginning to fade.
Like a TV screen losing signal.
"Say goodbye, or I'll feel like you're treating me like an Enoki mushroom." Ian only left that last sentence. The bell of return had already rung in his ear.
Seeing the boy vanish into thin air, the onlookers in the distance couldn't help but gasp.
"Where did that boy go?"
"He disappeared! Just vanished like that! As if he was never here... Oh my god, could he be God, who saved us and then quietly left?"
"God is a boy?"
"No! He didn't just save us, he gave us hope and a new beginning. I think he should be a hero! A hero more heroic than an ordinary hero... a Super Hero!"
"Isn't that still God?"
...
Incredible, unbelievable emotions spread through the crowd.
Countless people, jaws dropped, watched the boy descend from the sky and then disappear like a wisp of wind. Some even dropped their cigarette butts, showing the magnitude of the shock they felt.
As they exchanged whispers, the sunset gilded the scorched streets.
Smoke stretched out like a veil in the evening breeze.
The post-battle city was still permeated with the smell of gunpowder and scorched earth. Countless small spider corpses were scattered on the ground. The sounds of ambulances and police cars continued to ring out.
"Are you alright?"
Police Chief George finally ran toward his daughter.
"I'm fine, Dad."
Gwen replied to Chief George.
"But the way you look... are you really not infected with any virus?" Police Chief George spoke with a strange tone, facing a pair of vertical, upward-pointing legs.
"Huh?!"
It was only then that Gwen realized she was still maintaining a handstand posture.
She quickly flipped over and sat back down on the ground.
"If I said... I ran into an Evil God and was influenced by him, would you believe me, Dad?" Gwen's face was flushed red. In her embarrassment, she activated her 'passing the buck' mode.
"What do you think?"
George helped his daughter up and carried her on his back.
"I'm sorry, Dad, for making you worry."
Gwen lowered her head sheepishly.
"You don't need to apologize. In fact, you did a great job. I'm proud of you... Of course, as a father, I don't want my daughter to become any kind of hero."
George put Gwen into an ambulance. His tone was unusually gentle. Perhaps others were praising the person who solved the problem, but he knew exactly who the first person to stand up was.
Dozens of ambulances were simultaneously rescuing people.
Gwen naturally received prioritized transport, which Chief George had exchanged for with his favors.
She received effective treatment, avoiding the tragedy of a broken leg waiting months for surgery.
When Gwen was wheeled out of the operating room, it was late. The city had not yet recovered from the chaos of the spider monster attack, and the streets still echoed with sirens and the chatter of the crowd.
Inside the hospital, the hallway lights were stark white.
After a round of treatment, Gwen was sent to a ward. George still had to deal with the day's events, and her mother was on the way, so when she woke up, she was alone watching television.
Nearly every television station was reporting on the day's events. Gwen saw glimpses of herself on TV, but no clear camera had captured her appearance.
Most of the broadcasters' focus was on the footage of Ian descending from the sky and the golden light tearing through the clouds. The statements from the TV anchors were almost all extremely complimentary.
"Now that's a hero," Gwen sighed.
Her mood was a bit low and melancholic.
Suddenly, outside, there were hurried footsteps.
The ward door was pushed open.
"Is that the nurse?"
Gwen turned her head but saw two strangely dressed men. A tall, thin man in a red cloak walked in front, with a bizarre metal ornament pinned to his collar.
The other was a two-meter-tall, blond, muscular man. A silver-glowing chest plate peeked out from under his red cape, and he was actually clutching—were those grilled meat skewers?
Gwen smelled the delicious food.
"Who are you looking for?" she asked, bewildered, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
"The person we're looking for is you." The cloaked man took a step forward, his pupils shining in the light. "I am the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange, and this is Thor, the God of Thunder."
Doctor Strange introduced himself.
"No, I haven't been sent to a mental hospital yet." Gwen's gaze slowly shifted to the sign at the foot of the bed—she was in the Ordinary Surgery Ward, 7th Floor, Bed B12, at New York Central Hospital.
"Relax, kid."
Thor took a hearty bite of the grilled meat.
He was replenishing his nutrition after the great battle.
"Ms. Gwen Stacy, stop pretending. We have insight into your secret. You are old acquaintances with that Evil God, and you are probably a recovering Evil God yourself, aren't you?"
Doctor Strange was still so fond of deduction.
Gwen's eyelashes fluttered.
"Ian? That boy?"
She somewhat understood why this person was looking for her.
"Exactly! The Evil God who forced us to believe in him!" Doctor Strange clapped his thigh, his tone carrying a hint of distress for his own magical power.
Gwen cocked her head.
"I don't think he's an Evil God."
She pointed to the news on the television.
The camera swept over the spontaneously mourning citizens on the street and finally settled on a blurry photo of a golden figure. Everyone was singing the praises of the boy who had saved the city from disaster today.
"Actually, I don't think he's an Evil God either," Thor chimed in at this moment. "An Evil God wouldn't dare to fool me, after all, my father is the Great Odin!"
He still loved showing off his dad.
"..."
Gwen was starting to believe that these two were Ian's friends.
"Oh? Neither of you believes it? Thor, when I found you, you weren't saying that. You said you believed in me." Doctor Strange seemed somewhat defensive upon hearing this.
"This is the magic he taught me. Isn't that evil enough?" With that, Doctor Strange pulled out his appendix, which made Gwen feel nauseous. Thor, meanwhile, was contemplating if there was a way to cook it.
Seeing the God of Thunder's gaze, Doctor Strange instantly became vigilant and put away his precious appendix.
And right at that moment,
"I remember now, you're the scruffy fortune teller who only left a five-dollar tip! That boy, Ian, he kidnapped me from your place once."
Gwen suddenly realized.
This made the originally agitated Doctor Strange look slightly embarrassed.
"Firstly, I gave a small tip because I didn't have much money myself. Secondly, the Evil God Ian and I are not friends. I was the first believer he captured."
Doctor Strange felt like crying just thinking about the matter.
"If you're his follower, shouldn't you praise your god in every sentence? Instead, you're cursing him?" Gwen looked suspicious, thinking these two were genuinely strange.
"He just likes being called an Evil God."
Doctor Strange sighed.
"..."
Gwen was suddenly speechless.
She remembered Ian boasting to her about his Evil God's lair.
"So, why are you looking for me? I'm not his follower, and I'm not a new Evil God. Don't try to trick me into joining some Evil God cult, either."
Gwen sighed, her tone very guarded.
"Tony asked us to find you, hoping you would join our little group—The Evil Eye Alliance." Doctor Strange finally stated his purpose.
He was also following orders.
"Shouldn't it be called the Northern God Alliance?"
Thor's eyes widened.
The God of Thunder seemed very dissatisfied with Doctor Strange's naming choice.
"We can discuss this later." Doctor Strange didn't want to argue much. After all, he was just a small Third-in-Command, and Thor was clearly the Second-in-Command.
"Can I ask what your alliance does?" Seeing the two men about to argue, Gwen couldn't help but raise her heavily bandaged hand.
"Is it to resist the invasion of the Evil God?"
She used her imagination.
However, Doctor Strange shook his head directly.
"No, we can't resist that guy, the Evil God, at all. Our alliance is mainly to cope with the world's drastic changes. You must have noticed that our world is gradually becoming more dangerous, right?"
Doctor Strange's words made Gwen thoughtful.
"Yes," she nodded.
"A salvation organization? Do you want to be superheroes too?"
As Gwen brought up this emerging term, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. She knew this was the cursed memory fragments at play in her mind.
"Superhero, I like that word."
Thor nodded wildly.
"Something like that."
Doctor Strange's emotions were more contained.
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
Gwen's response was clearly beyond Doctor Strange's expectation.
"That shouldn't be right. You were the first hero to rush in and save people earlier."
Doctor Strange was confused.
"I just suddenly realized I'm not cut out to be a hero." Gwen lay on her side on the bed, feeling her fractured and re-set leg, her resolve slightly dampened.
"Is it because of the injury?"
Doctor Strange said, pulling out a book.
"Don't worry, just believe in the All-Mighty God Ian, and his power can heal you immediately. It only requires consuming a little bit of fat, which I think is a reward for a girl."
He opened the [Dungeon] magic book in his hand.
He was about to teach Gwen the oath.
The next moment,
"Damn it! He invented new magic again!"
Doctor Strange was instantly shocked.
"Brain-Sharing Technique! Damn it, what kind of terrifying magic is this? The ability to share mental computation between brains? Oh my god! He wants us to think for him!"
"Look, both of you!"
Doctor Strange held the book out to Gwen and Thor, respectively.
The atmosphere was quiet for a moment.
"Alright, I admit he's an Evil God."
Thor felt his brain start to tremble.
It was an illusion.
But it could also be intuition.
"This... this isn't just evil, it's horrifying, isn't it?"
Gwen swallowed.
She was once again profoundly shaken to her core.
"CLANG!"
Doctor Strange, Thor, and Gwen were still gathered around the absurd "Evil God Manual," their expressions horrified.
Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open, and the three of them were drawn to the sight.
A nurse pushed a hospital bed into the room.
Behind her was the attending doctor.
The two of them pushed the bed into the room. Lying on the bed was a boy with a pale face and closed eyes. There was a gruesome bite mark on his arm.
It looked like a mark left by some kind of monster.
"Poor child," the doctor said softly, his voice full of regret. "He was attacked by the spider monster during the incident this afternoon. Fortunately, his life is not in danger."
"We should be grateful to that miraculous Son of the Sun. He didn't just save these innocent people, but perhaps all of us." With that, the doctor hung a name tag on the head of the bed.
The action was practiced.
[Peter Parker]
The name on it seemed quite ordinary.
However, the boy, who had the same name as the spider monster, looked similar, but was a few years younger, was perhaps not so ordinary.
***
DC Universe.
Night fell, and the storm poured down.
Gale-force winds whipped the rain against the window, as if the whole world was submerged in endless darkness and a curtain of water. Ian sat at his desk, having just finished creating a new spell.
He needed to possess Tony's analytical ability to find a way to acquire new Professions in the new world, so he created the [Brain-Sharing Technique] spell.
Admittedly, a Super Brain was powerful, but it was ultimately no match for using other people's brains to think together.
"I didn't expect to be a talent in this path of magic either... All-powerful, nothing more." Ian stood up, ready to go out to pee and come back for a magic experiment.
Suddenly, his peripheral vision caught a black shadow flashing past the window.
A giant "bat" was hanging upside down on the window ledge outside. The black cape flapped loudly in the wind, and raindrops constantly slid down the edges of his cowl to the ground.
Like silver streaks of tears.
"There's a Batman problem at home again!"
Ian rushed toward the insect killer by his bed. Whether he was joking or not, Batman, who quickly climbed through the open window, judged for himself.
"What are you planning to do?"
Batman's voice was as deep as ever.
"Help you with some pest control?"
Ian admitted defeat.
After all, this wasn't the first time he had seen Batman.
He had lost the chance for a first-encounter kill.
"Your father said you stripped Savitar's corpse bare?" There was clearly high-tech gear in Batman's cowl. His gaze immediately turned toward Ian's bed.
There was more than just high-tech gear there.
There was also a girl.
***
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