The moment that thought surfaced, Gwen felt her worldview take an absolutely brutal hit.
But she didn't have time to process it right now, because her father outside the door was still worried about her:
"Are you hurt? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"
George really wanted to rush in immediately to check on his daughter's condition.
But since his daughter was all grown up, out of respect for her privacy, he held himself back.
"I—I'm fine! I'll be okay in a sec." Gwen struggled to get down from the ceiling while trying her best to stay calm and deal with her father outside.
"Alright then, holler if you need anything."
Listening to her father's receding footsteps, Gwen finally let out a long breath of relief.
Carefully trying to regain control of her body, after several attempts, she finally managed to retract the countless tiny barbs covering her limbs back into her skin.
However, this also caused her to fall onto the floor with a thud... despite landing hard from that height, she didn't feel the slightest bit of pain.
Clumsily climbing up from the ground, Gwen looked at her hands, feeling the seemingly endless new power within her body—the expression on her face was incredibly complicated.
Shock, confusion, fear, and a hint of... uncontrollable excitement.
It seemed like her life had just taken a turn onto a completely unknown path tonight...
Meanwhile, in his bedroom across town, Peter was engaged in a brutal internal struggle.
"One... two... three..."
He was lying on the ground, gritting his teeth, struggling to do push-ups.
His two thin arms were shaking like they'd been fitted with high-frequency vibrators—if not for the Horse Talisman, he was worried he'd give himself hypothermia...
"...fourteen... fif... teen..."
After managing only about a dozen extremely sloppy push-ups, Peter was completely spent, collapsing onto the floor spread-eagle, gasping for air.
Looking at his thin chest with ribs clearly visible, Peter's heart filled with despair.
Weak!
Too freaking weak!
This body was just pathetically weak!
Sure, the Horse Talisman could instantly heal injuries and eliminate post-workout soreness, keeping his body free from lactic acid buildup and aches.
But it couldn't create energy out of thin air, and it couldn't directly boost his physical limits.
He was like a Dark Souls protagonist with infinite health regen but a laughably tiny stamina bar.
Though he wouldn't die easily, he'd run out of stamina and be gasping for air after just a few steps or swings.
While he could definitely transform from a scrawny high schooler into a muscular powerhouse way faster than normal people if he stuck with it...
But God knows how long that process would take?
A month? Three months? Half a year?
He couldn't wait that long!
As Gwen became Ghost-Spider, the "gears" of this world had already started turning.
Those supervillains lurking in the shadows with their various dangerous abilities would soon start appearing one after another, like sharks smelling blood.
Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro... Just thinking about these names made Peter's scalp tingle.
With his current pathetic constitution, one tiny mistake or getting grazed by the aftershocks of a battle would straight-up kill him on the spot.
Even the noble Horse, faced with a pile of mush, could only shrug helplessly...
Relying solely on exercise to get stronger was way too slow!
He had to find a way to gain serious power in a short time!
Only then could he maximize his system's effectiveness and create a snowballing cycle of growth.
With that thought, his genius mind—sharp enough to even impress Tony Stark himself—began spinning rapidly.
Before long, a flash of inspiration hit him!
Peter sat up from the floor with effort, a scary gleam flashing in his eyes.
He thought about the Lizard Serum he'd taken in the original death flag script, and the one his predecessor had helped Dr. Connors complete in the normal Spider-Verse!
Once injected with that stuff, he'd instantly gain violent power comparable to Spider-Man, crazy defense, and an almost broken regenerative ability!
Of course, the price was equally massive.
He'd lose his sanity, his genes would collapse, and he'd completely transform into a cold-blooded monster that only knew how to kill and destroy!
Under normal circumstances, Peter would absolutely, positively, one hundred percent never touch such an insanely dangerous potion!
But now... sorry, the noble Horse expels all external forces from the body!
The Horse Talisman's power could expel and repair all "abnormal influences" harmful to the holder!
Whether it was genetic collapse or bestial takeover, it was just child's play for the Horse Talisman!
As long as he activated the Horse Talisman's power while injecting the serum... the Horse Talisman would automatically eliminate all the negative factors in the serum that were harmful to him, leaving only the purest and most essential strengthening effects!
That way, the lethal Lizard Serum could transform into a Super Soldier Serum just like Captain America's!
No!
It'd be a Pro Max version even stronger than the Super Soldier Serum!
Thinking about this, Peter's heart began pounding uncontrollably.
This was hands-down the best solution he currently had access to for gaining power quickly!
"To get the Lizard Serum, I've gotta help Dr. Connors crack the Decay Rate Algorithm, just like in the normal Marvel Universe movies!"
"And the key to completing the Decay Rate Algorithm is in my parents' heirloom briefcase!"
With that realization, Peter immediately opened his bedroom door, first running downstairs on shaky legs to devour the dinner leftovers like a tornado.
Then, after saying hi to Uncle Ben, he headed to the old attic filled with the smell of decay and mold.
After a thorough search through the attic, Peter finally dug out that old briefcase.
The briefcase was crammed full of countless mathematical formulas and biology papers that would make a normal person's head explode.
If this were the Peter from before transmigrating, even if he got this pile of stuff, he could only use it as some not-so-soft toilet paper.
But now, with the genius mind left by his predecessor, the effect was totally different.
Returning to his room with the briefcase, Peter began burning the midnight oil.
Flipping through his parents' legacy—which looked like hieroglyphics to most people—when he turned to a certain page, a system notification suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[Detected a deep blue item that can be sacrificed: Original Manuscript of the Decay Rate Algorithm]
[Item Description: Peter's most cherished heirloom from his parents. It is also the key that helped Curt Connors develop the Lizard Serum and led Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn to become the Green Goblin. It holds significant commemorative and plot-driving importance.]
[Sacrifice to obtain points: 3000. Do you wish to sacrifice?]
Holy crap... that's a sweet deal?!
If this were the original Peter, no matter how valuable this manuscript was, he'd never choose to sacrifice it.
But today's Peter was clearly different!
He had zero feelings for the so-called parents he'd never met, so naturally, he didn't care about the supposed sentimental value of this manuscript.
Therefore, Peter made his choice without hesitation.
He quickly transcribed the manuscript's contents, and after triple-checking there were no errors or missing parts, he directly chose to sacrifice it...
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